


Krov: Cubb

by SarahElliotAwaf



Category: EXO (Band), Super Junior
Genre: Child Abandonment, F/F, F/M, FemLeetuek, Gen, Magic, Multi, Vampires, Werewolves, alternative universe, clans for protection, cute plushi's, dangerous religions, dark themes, learning to live after being abanondment, more to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-09-15 14:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9238823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahElliotAwaf/pseuds/SarahElliotAwaf
Summary: Messing with time in order to escape one horror can lead to an even greater one but Luhan knows that if he doesn't take the chance then the fire will consume him completely.Their new world is filled with new adventures, new friendships and new discoveries but darkness always lingers and it is ready to pounce once again on Luhan and those who will follow him to the end of the world.But there was one the darkness did not count upon returning and even though he is just a little wolf boy lost in the snow, Kris knows instinctively where he has to go. Straight back to Luhan's side in order to protect him from the darkness of the world.





	1. Prologue

~~  
The Past Can Never Stay the Past  
It can be changed   
For a Price   
~~

Prologue

Staggering through the blood splattered and body strewn landscape, Luhan was almost horrified to find that there were no tears left in his eyes to try. Just a strange, hollow numbing that made him feel as though there was nothing left in the world for him or that he was the only one left alive. The heavy rain which splattered off the cobbled stones below his torn, tattered bare feet only added to the growing misery that he felt as he made his way through the town that was their prison. The place that the humans had put them all so that they could justify the fact that they had a life, that they had families and friends and were not monsters who preyed upon the innocent and tried to drain them of their blood. 

Luhan had never drank an innocents blood in his entire vampiric life and certainly never preyed upon humans either. Well excluding that small time but everyone was allowed a little bit of a rebellion in their lives and to be honest he had made sure that the girls he took blood from, not drained like his former best friend Kyungsoo had done, were willing for him to do anything. Blood was vital for a vampire to survive but it did not have to be human blood. Animal blood was just as sufficient and personally he preferred the taste of elder blood over all other types. Though he did also have a particular preference for his alpha’s blood but that was a story for another time. In fact that was story that would never be told to anyone because there was no one left. 

For the first time that night the thought struck him that he was alone, that his whole clan had been wiped out in a showering of bullets and explosions all because of one man. One man who had believed that humans were below them and that they needed to be contained, needed to be enslaved and ruled by the vampires who were naturally stronger than all of them. Luhan could understand why Kyungsoo had been so determined to bring them all into the light, as the phrasing went not figuratively, he had even been a part of the youngers initial plans until he realised just how disgustingly horrible humans could be to one another. 

He could still hear the cries of the children in the concentration camps as he passed by them, could still see the uttermost terror in the eyes of the men as they were lined up and some were selected to go to be worked to death whilst others were spared the pain and shot where they stood. The reason, because they followed a different religion. Luhan could not remember why he had gone to the concentration camp with Kyungsoo in the first place but he remembered how he had turned his back on the man at that point, denounced everything that he had stood for and walked away from a friend. 

Because in that moment, Luhan had felt his own fear. A fear of how humans would treat their kind if they were ever to be exposed and it would not be to just simply turn around and worship them. 

They would be lucky to just be exterminated. 

To make matters worse, Kyungsoo had seen his act as one of betrayal and constantly strove to carry out his plan to prove him wrong. Luhan had interfered with every attempt, tried all ways he could think of to get the other to see that this was a dangerous situation and could only end in disaster but Kyungsoo would not have it. He was determined to carry out his plan and did everything possible to make sure that it came to fruition. 

When it finally did, he was one of the first to fall. His new found friends in Sector Zero opting to wipe Kyungsoo out as a traitor to their cause in order to cover their tracks and make it appear that they had used their own intel to track down the monsters. Luhan had felt sorrow for Kyungsoo, but it had lasted only a little length of time before the real horrors began. 

All of the supernatural kind were captured or killed within the first three months of the exposure, then they were experimented upon regardless of age or health. Virtually everyone in the clan bore the scars of those times physically and mentally before it was declared that the only use they would be to humans would be as slaves. They were forced into situations where no human could do, were beaten, degraded, turned into nothing more than mindless husks that could not survive. Only a handful did, many easily being dragged into the darkness of the waiting hell with a smile on their faces as the relief was something that no one had ever expected to actually go through. 

Luhan had lost track of all time, choosing to close himself off as he was passed from broken pillar to post with no connection to his loved ones and no idea about their safety or indeed even if they were alive. The only one he knew for certain was still alive and pretty healthy was his adopted daughter Sofia whom he could watch on the television as someone thought the pretty little vampire child could easily be exploited on a number of shows and the viewing public loved her for that. A timeless child who aged so slowly that they could use her time and time again. It had been one of Luhan’s owners who had a sick obsession with the girl who had first introduced Luhan to this little fact and it wasn’t much longer that the man had been certified as having committed suicide after taking too many sleeping pills. 

No one had ever suspected that it was his drinks that were laced with the pills but Luhan just played the subservient dumb vampire and no one questioned him in the slightest. 

The next man to own him was a lawyer and instead of just beating him around, the man took him under his wing and became the vampire’s first true friend in a long while. Without asking too many questions, the man named Edgar had set about trying to allow Luhan some time to meet up with Sofia after he caught the vampire watching a show with her and gained the truth after some carefully selected questions. It had been a long process but finally he had been allowed a chance to meet with the growing girl. Sofia was thrilled and neither of them wanted the time to end together but it had to and it was with deep regrets that they had parted. 

Though someone had been bright enough to film the whole event and upload it, making it spread like wildfire across the communication channels and prompting a look by the governments at what actual rights the supernatural community had. It had taken nearly another eighty years but finally the decision was reached that the supernatural community should indeed be living together and back with their families so a small town was set up for them. It was security locked and fenced off and they all had to have ID badges and be logged in and out but it was something better than living in slavery. 

Luhan had been so happy to reunite with Sofia and more than surprised to find Kris still alive because his alpha was more than capable of getting himself into situations that would have easily gotten himself killed and never took orders from anyone other than those he respected. Though sometimes there was a huge grey area over the way he did things under Luhan’s command but that was Kris and Luhan wouldn’t have changed him for the world. 

Life was still hard though and many things were still unjust and truly terrible to behold. A series of events started when a young man of high esteem was turned unwillingly into a vampire and then committed suicide to escape the curse through a video where he damned the existence of all supernaturals. To make matters even worse, Luhan recognised the vampire who had turned the boy and felt his heart sink into the depths of his soul. It was a young Kyungsoo, one who must have been resurrected by someone with a death wish and he would stop at nothing to get back at all the humans who had wronged him. 

The only problem with that was that the humans once again turned on the supernatural community. This time with weapons designed to kill them. The military had swarmed through the gated community without a care, gunning down everyone in sight and raiding all of the houses to root out any potential survivors. Whole families had been forced out of their homes, lined up and shot down one by one, not a single soul spared. Those that fought back were tackled down, beaten and bruised before having their lives ended abruptly by shots to the head. 

Kris had been one of the deaths that Luhan had witnessed, the alpha desperately trying to save some recently born cubs before his body was shot directly with a bullet made of pure silver that raced through the man’s bloodstream to cause virtually all of his veins to explode. Luhan did not remember much more after that, he had just turned and ran, wanting nothing more than to find his nearest and dearest before the same fate occurred to them. 

He found Tao hanging from a tree by one arm, wire having been used to string him up whilst his body had been sliced open and entrails splattered everywhere. Tears had finally sprung into his eyes when he rushed up the stairs to a house where he knew that Sofia could be only to find the girl wrapped protectively in the arms of her two best friends, Youngmin and Kwangmin Kris’s eldest sons, with no life left in her body. From the handgun on the bedside it was clear that the trio had taken their own lives rather than be gunned down by the humans. Luhan had knelt next to their bodies, wondering why he had to suffer like this, what he had ever done to be punished for another man’s mistake and had very nearly taken his own life rather than live with anymore of this hell. 

But a final thought had stirred in his head that he had to find Xiumin before this was all over as it was not fair to leave the other man behind like that. 

Taking the gun, he had kissed Sofia upon her cheek with whispered words and then stepped out into the soggy darkness to search for his lover so that he could join him in death. The streets were paved with blood and the gunshots had stopped, a harrowing silence overtaking everything but the stench of gasoline was becoming more present which could mean only one thing. The humans were going to burn the evidence and let all of the ash and dirt fly away into the night air like none of it had ever happened. 

A cruel fate for them all. 

Staggering into the central square, Luhan felt like bringing the gun to his head there and then just to get it all over with. The sight that met his eyes was horrible, broken and bloody bodies everywhere almost as if they had been deliberately dragged here and then tossed into unrecognisable piles. If there had been anything left in his stomach he was sure that he would have thrown up at the sight but instead just wretched silently for a few seconds and shuddered when more blood joined the running rivers on the stones. There was no water left in his body now, so blood was substituting itself for it. 

A series of footsteps came close to him before stopping and for a few terrible seconds Luhan just couldn’t be bothered to twist his head painfully to the side in order to look up. 

Until a soft voice said his name. 

Blue eyes rose up to meet the almost ice cold whiteness and a small gasp left the vampires throat before he was throwing himself up into Xiumin’s arms to hold him as tight as he could manage. Xiumin was quick to return the hold, his body firm, solid and real even if the strength was failing rapidly. The man with black hair pulled back to place kisses onto the blonde’s lips before resting his forehead against the others, “I thought I wouldn’t see you again.” 

“I know,” Luhan managed a hiccup as he stared at his lover, “But we’re together now.” 

Xiumin shook his head towards the other, taking hold of the handgun and throwing it away, “No. I will not die like that and neither will you.” 

Before Luhan could protest, Xiumin had dragged him over to the fountain which was still somehow working despite all that had happened and plonked the pair of them down onto a seat next to it. Luhan felt more bloody tears roll from his eyes as he realised this was the place where they had made up after a long break and he allowed Xiumin to brush away the tears with his thumb before accepting another kiss. Gently the vampire master let out a sigh as he leant his head onto the others chest, listening to the failing heartbeat and interlinked his fingers with the others. “What do we do?” he asked aloud, watching as the night sky started to brighten with the fires one the edge of the town, “Just sit and wait for the flames?” 

Xiumin nodded, “Yes, we defy in the end because we remain.” 

Gulping, Luhan nodded and closed his eyes, wishing that he could just die here in this one second and not have to face the long and terrible wait that would see their lives ended for good. 

A sweet chiming noise, like that of a glass bell caught his attention and painfully Luhan opened his eyes to try and locate the source. There was nothing obvious at first, just the still sweet chiming noise until the blond haired vampire happened to look down. There was a bright light coming from just under the remains of his shirt and carefully Luhan reached down to pull out the very fine chained necklace which he had all but forgotten about. 

An thin amber pendant hung off the chain, inside of which had been set a clock face without any hands. It was surrounded by gold and a scattering of blood red rubies and was an heirloom which had been passed down to him when he had become the Master of the City. It was a ‘Vremya Smeny’ which his father had informed him was something very rare and very precious. Luhan had always thought the notion of carrying around a simple little pendant that could apparently alter one’s timeline was a ludicrous notion especially since no one knew how to activate it in the slightest but right now, he stared at the small pendant with wonder. 

It was glowing brightly from within, the silvery light of the inset clock presumably the source of the chimes and Luhan knew that if he were to crush the pendant between his palms then it would activate. 

Slowly he turned his eyes up towards Xiumin, seeing the light reflected in them and for the first time in his life, Luhan did not pause to think or to ask questions because he already knew the answer. If this device was activated then their lives would be reset, they’d be taken back to a place where they could start afresh and somehow he knew that those closest to him would be in that life. Xiumin would be there, by his side somehow, Tao would be around to annoy and protect him in equal measures and Kris would be his alpha once again. 

Though the most important thing would be that Sofia would come into his life, maybe as his real daughter and that thought ultimately made his decision for him. 

Grasping hold of Xiumin’s hand, Luhan leant forward to place one last final kiss onto his lips as the fires raged towards them and then pressed their hands tightly together in order to break through the amber which crumbled like dust as the final chime sounded and a glorious bright white light thundered out from the tiny little pendant to engulf the whole town, city, state, country and then the world in one tremendous glow that disappeared just as rapidly as it had appeared leaving a new life in its wake.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Wolf Boy in the Snow

The snow was deep, though thankfully it had not yet frozen as the night was only just beginning to bring forth the colder temperatures that Láng was used to. But his barely covered body was beginning to protest at moving, his natural instinct to change in order to seek some form of comfort was very nearly overpowering but the boy knew that doing such a thing would only result in his death. If he changed into his wolf form now, he would lose all strength and would just be a frozen body by the end of the night. He couldn’t allow that to happen, not in the slightest. 

The villagers were depending on him, they needed him to reach the old manor house on the far side of the valley and he would get there before he froze to death. 

In the back of his mind, the boy they simply named as Láng because no one knew where he came from, already knew that everything was lost. That the village he had lived on the outskirts of for an untold number of years was gone and would be nothing more than a pile of wreckage and rubble which would be claimed by the wrath of winter but he had to try. Maybe if there was just a glimmer of hope then trying to get through this mountain of snow was going to be worth it. 

Even if he could only save one life, that was something which was better than being nothing. 

Láng continued through the snow, his tall for his age ten-year-old body shivering with the lack of puppy fat that he should realistically have but there were the beginnings of strong arms and a broad chest and a face with sharp but quite possibly charming features if he were to be given a good meal or two and a reason to smile once in a while. He was only dressed in a pair of roughly hewn trousers, his torso, arms and feet bare to the elements with the marks of frostbite and years of beatings visibly present. 

As well as some curious darker marks that seemed to form a sort of winding tribal pattern from the base of his neck and down his left arm. They were faint though and had to be really scrutinized to be seen. Láng had no explanation for them other than the fact that when he had woken up from what felt like a sleep that was not real they had been blazon upon his skin. The elder at the village had taken them as a sign of a curse or ill intent from the boy and had said that he was an omega, a worthless pile of skin and bones that could only just linger on the edge of their village. 

Láng had not understood why or what he had done wrong to land him in that position but it was not going to stop him from reaching out to the only help available and if he had made it this far on his own then he was certainly not going to fall at the last hurdle. 

Especially when the end goal was so very nearly in sight to. The Manor House of the Dekker family was so very clear and Láng was not going to give up now. He couldn’t give up, even if no one thanked him for it in the long run he was not going to abandon anyone to the snow to be found only once the sun had returned the land to springtime. 

It was becoming harder to move however and breathing was difficult as the ice literally slithered down his throat to freeze his lungs into painful sacks that burned each time he tried to inhale more precious oxygen. Such a life giving force should not hurt this much or make him weaker with every last step and finally the young boys legs gave out, forcing him down into a snow pile that caressed his skin like sandpaper with hundreds of small sharp vines that wanted to tear him to pieces. A pathetic whimper escaped from his lips, tears unable to be shed as all water within his body was completely precious right now and if it froze it would only add more weight to his already far too heavy form.   
The inner wolf cub howled in misery and pain, wanting to change for at least the smallest chance of warmth for an hour or so but Láng could not even bring himself to raise his head as the freezing winds rushed across his bare body and disturbed the black strands of hair atop of his head. Fear ate at the young werewolf’s heart, he didn’t want to die like this, he didn’t want to be alone or have to face the endless night without someone by his side. It wasn’t fair, his whole life had been turned upside down by a single bite from an enraged beast before he was cast aside by his family, humans and werewolf alike, alone and defenceless in a world where only the strong survived. 

Somehow managing to summon some reserve of strength, Láng pushed himself upright with the intention of letting out a howl that would hopefully be heard by someone in the Manor House ahead that would bring them to him but instead the wind brought him something which relit the candle of hope that had kept him going over all these long gruelling miles. 

The sounds of children, laughing and playing. 

They weren’t far, maybe a couple of hundred feet and with a grimace Láng finally managed to convince his worn out body to stand upright, though he was quickly hunched over once again, arms wrapping around him to try and vainly add some warmth before he started staggering forward. There was a treeline up ahead, looking as though it surrounded a small natural valley and carefully Láng approached it. 

The valley wasn’t that large, maybe only a couple of hundred feet across but it was deep and had probably been a watering hole at some point in time but now it was just an empty valley that was surrounded by trees. Láng blinked as he stepped through the trees and felt a slight increase of the temperature but he looked over the edge. 

Down below were two apparent children rushing back and forth throwing snowballs at one another and they couldn’t look more like chalk and cheese. One was tall with a lean build and smooth black hair. He had a bit of a stern looking face but right now it was split into a joyful laughing smile with plenty of laughter lines being formed around his sparkling grey eyes and lips. Something that would undoubtable make him appear more gentle in the long run. 

The other boy was shorter but had a swiftness to his limbs that made him nimble and able to move quicker with bursts of laughter that were genuine and filled with fun. He had bright blond hair and deep shimmering blue eyes that reflected the light from a small campfire that had been built. He seemed to be just filled with the joy of childhood and Láng found himself drawn towards the blond though he could not say as to why. 

However, the spell was broken when there came a snap of a twig and the two boys froze in their game before turning slowly to look at the figure who was approaching them. They were tall, broad and held an intimidating aura of someone who was used to being in control over everything that was going on around them. Láng recognised the scent of an alpha straight away and for a second he wanted to turn back, to hide because this would not be the best situation to be caught in as he had already been rejected outright by several alphas before. 

“Ah, I should have known I would find you two here,” the voice that came out of the alpha was nothing like what he had heard before and Láng leant forward, ears twitching, fascinated by the softness that was held within each note. It wasn’t a weak softness or the type of softness that seduced someone, it was more of a one that spoke of a parent and it spoke volumes of protection, understanding and patience that Láng couldn’t remember ever hearing before. 

“Before you start, Kangin,” the boy with black hair said towards the alpha who was standing before him, pulling his friend closer into a protective embrace, “This was my idea, not Luhan’s so he doesn’t need to be punished.” 

An eyebrow was raised in their direction before Kangin let out a laugh, shaking his head, “Oh really now? The fact that Luhan has been going on about playing in the snow for the past week wasn’t an indicator in itself.” 

The black haired boy opened his mouth to argue but suddenly stopped and twisted his head up to the top of the treeline when a rock dislodged itself and clattered down the side of the valley to land at their feet. Kangin was over to the pair in seconds, his eyes scanning for any possible signs of trouble before his nose kicked in and he picked up a scent of a young, very frightened wolf cub. “Kyungsoo, take Luhan back to the entrance and stay there. I don’t think that we have…” 

Suddenly there came a series of crashes and Kangin shot forward as branches, rocks and mud came tumbling down. The alpha moved quickly, just catching the figure that also came tumbling down with the natural foliage and hurriedly pulled the young cub back into the clearing before more bramble and debris came tumbling down along with it. 

Once the dust cleared, Kyungsoo grabbed hold of Luhan’s hand and rushed back to Kangin who was kneeling down to examine the young figure in his arms. He blinked at the state of the young werewolf who was panting heavily, clearly shook up and looked up at Kangin, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Kangin replied, before looking down at the shaking cub in his arms, “Why are you alone out here, cub, where’s your pack?” 

The cub shook his head, terror radiating off of him as he continued to shiver badly. 

Kangin blinked and took a sniff of him a little bit deeper, “You’re from Hiltrop?” 

Slowly the boy nodded, blinking before finally finding his voice, “There…there was an attack…so many men and screams and fire and…I just wanted to help but I couldn’t do anything and I’m sorry and…” tears began to well up in his eyes, flowing freely within seconds as the whole situation finally hit him, “They wouldn’t listen, they pushed me aside and I just wanted to help and save them!” 

“Shush cub, shush,” Kangin said carefully, pulling the cub close to his chest, “I’m sure you did the right thing. Don’t worry now, we’re going to get you to a safe place and then we’re going to go back there and find out what is going on. Just breathe, you’ll be okay.” 

Láng shivered, continuing to sob and shake even as he was carefully picked up by the alpha and was carried to an old looking car where he was gently laid in the back. Kyungsoo scrambled into the front seat whereas Luhan opted to sit in the back with the boy. Láng stared up at the blue eyed vampire child with a curious eye, wondering what he was doing. 

Luhan just smiled and took hold of the boy’s hand, “You’re in the right place now, you don’t need to fear anything more now.” 

Staring at the blond haired boy, Láng got a flash of recognition before he finally caved into the exhaustion which had been clinging to his body and marring his senses for the better part of the day and welcome the black oblivion of slumber for the first time in as long as he could remember. Luhan smiled faintly before reaching across to pull a tatty old blanket across the figure to lessen his shivering even if just a little bit. 

Carefully he took hold of the now slumbering boys hand and leant down closer to him, whispering, “Found you,” in a happy little voice directly into the others ear. 

~*~

The doors to the main house opened with a clatter as Kangin pushed his way through the main hall and up the stairs to one of the unoccupied rooms that he knew was clean and in good order. His mate Leeteuk was quick to be on the scene, picking up the scents of distress from her alpha and she let out a yelp of surprise when she saw the boy as he was laid out on the bed, “By all the…where did you find him Kangin?” 

“He found Kyungsoo and Luhan in the old lake valley,” Kangin said, knowing that he could count on his mate to look after the boy because he still smelt of a cub and as alpha female it was in her natural instinct to protect, heal and look after him which is what they would need. “Where’s the hunters?” 

“In the main hall, waiting to get their orders,” Leeteuk said blinking before turning to look at her mate directly, “What’s going on?” 

“An attack on Hiltrop, at least that’s what the boy said,” Kangin stated, moving close to press a kiss to her lips, “I’ll go and check it out with the hunters. Don’t go causing a big fret yet, not until I know what’s going on.” He turned and caught sight of the two vampire kindree who were still lingering in the doorway with wide and way too curious eyes. 

He quickly turned back to Leeteuk, “Get them two back to the maids, make sure that they’re tended to and aren’t dragged into this mess any further.” 

The alpha female nodded and pressed a hand onto her mates’ shoulder, “You come back, you hear me, no heroics now, right?” 

Nodding Kangin pressed another kiss to her lips and took one last look at the boy on the bed before turning and heading to the main hall where the best hunters of werewolves, vampires and shapeshifters were gathered. The alpha did not have to speak a word to them as word had clearly followed his dramatic entrance and it would not take a fool to recognise the scent of someone from the town of Hiltrop. 

“What attacked them?” a young but a little enthusiastic wolf by the name of Henry asked, breaking the silence. 

“Probably the same darkness that has attacked four other outlying towns in the past month and a half,” a new voice entered the room, seeming to fill the entire room with authority and power that was not overpowering but commanded attention in everyone there. 

Kangin turned and bowed his head towards the man who had entered the room, “Siwon.” 

“Kangin,” the Master Vampire addressed his alpha with a smile, “I’m surprised you did not come straight to me with this injured wolf cub.” 

The alpha shook his head, “I was more concerned with getting the two kindree back. Plus, you always have a really good habit of knowing when things are going on and they need to be sorted.”

Siwon was a huge vampire by anyone’s standard, in fact many said that he looked more like a werewolf than a vampire. He was tall, broad and carried himself well at all times. His dirty blond hair was more silver now these days as age began to show on him after the death of his wife but his blue eyes still shined with power and understanding of the consequences of having power. He was a force to be reckoned with and it was a fool who took him on lightly. 

However, those who were close to him knew that he had a kind heart and he was a family man by all accounts. He loved his family and would sacrifice everything for them even at the cost of his own honour. He cared for those that were in his household and made sure that they were all well looked after but to cross him was a dangerous thing and it was a fool who would even dare to try. 

Nodding Siwon smiled at his alpha and quickly addressed the gathered hunters, “Do not think that we are going to find anyone alive, if this is anything like the reports that have been received from the other masters there is liable to be nothing but a burnt out husk. But we shall go and investigate to see if there are any traces of the monsters that have been tearing at our lands.” 

There was a general chorus of agreement and the hunters gathered their weapons together in the grim hope that they would either capture the criminals or find another survivor in the town that would be able to explain what had happened. Though from all the tales that had sprung up in regards to the attacks on the other towns they would be lucky to find anything to identify the town excluding the old maps which would point in the general direction of where it had been. 

Grabbing his own weapons and a heavy fur lined coat, Siwon turned to start out only to find Luhan standing in the doorway with his eyes fixed firmly upon him. The elder vampire smiled and moved to the boy, “You are supposed to be with the maids.” 

“I want to stay with the wolf boy,” Luhan said, “He looks like he needs some care and attention.” 

“Leeteuk will give him that,” Siwon said, noting that Kyungsoo was lurking just behind Luhan, “You go and play with your friend and don’t get yourself into trouble.” 

Luhan blinked and looked determined, “He needs a friend too, I don’t think he’s ever had one.” 

A frown crossed the elders face as he tried to work out what the youngster was saying but he knew that his son was sensitive to people’s needs. However, it was Kyungsoo who spoke next stepping close to Luhan, “Why don’t we go and see if we can find him some new clothes and something soft huh? Like a toy because wolf cubs always need that don’t they?” 

Siwon smiled and nodded, “Yes, that is very true. You can do that for him Luhan and by the time you’re finished with that I’m sure that Leeteuk will have sorted him out.” 

“Yes Father,” Luhan said with a sad smile, “I’ll do that.” 

“Good and be good for Leeteuk as well,” Siwon said before pressing a kiss to Luhan’s head and ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair, “We’ll be back before the moon is beginning to set, so do not fret.” 

Luhan nodded and turned to watch his father walk across the hall and out of the door, flanked by the rest of the hunters. Kyungsoo stepped up close to Luhan and linked his fingers through the slightly younger boys, “It’s going to be fine. Uncle will be back, you’ll see.” 

The younger vampire turned to look at his cousin, his blue eyes showing clear worry and Kyungsoo smiled gently to him before reaching out to pet his head, “Would I ever lie to you?” 

Blinking, Luhan shyly shook his head and grinned up at the just taller vampire before taking hold of his extended hand to begin running through the house in order to carry out their little mission for their new family member. Not that it was official as of yet of course but Luhan had no doubt that his Father would not be taking the unnamed wolf into their clan. The young vampire could only hope that there was no reason for the youngster to have been thrown out of the town but that just didn’t fit with the image of the young wolf that was lying asleep in the bedroom upstairs.

Luhan could not explain how he had the ability to read people but he always seemed to be able to do something. There was something different about the young cub upstairs, that much was clear, but Luhan could not yet pin down as to what it was. However, he pushed away thoughts away as he focused on finding clothes and some larger soft toys to make him comfortable as well. There were plenty of them around as there was an increase in the number of lost cubs and Kindree that had arrived of late and it was clear that the boy needed all the comfort that he could get. 

Kyungsoo chuckled as Luhan came out of the small toy room carrying so many large soft toys in his arms that he could hardly be seen behind them, “I know you want to help but isn’t that a little on the excessive side?” 

Luhan shook his head, “No, he needs all of the warmth and affection that he can get right now. I don’t think he’s been granted much of it at the village.” 

“All cubs are taken care of,” Kyungsoo said, “It’s an unspoken rule.” 

“This one hasn’t been,” Luhan said as he staggered towards the room before Kyungsoo took hold of one of the toys to carry it for him, “He has scratches and scars on his back which is not the way that a cub should be allowed to be like that.” 

Kyungsoo blinked and followed quietly into the room where Leeteuk was busy tending to the new cub and he took the opportunity to look at him with the eyes that his younger cousin had looked at the wolf with. He saw the rough markings on his side, a bite mark on his hip that was barely a few days into healing and he felt a pang of pain go through his heart. “Oh you poor cub,” he spoke aloud, setting down the toy along the others back as Luhan was busy pushing the two he had in front of him, “Why have they done this to you?” 

“You’ll find out once I do,” Leeteuk said, picking up Luhan into a familiar hold and offering her hand to Kyungsoo, “Now I really need to take the pair of you away from this sight. Come now, it’s for the best.” 

Without waiting for either one of the pair to complain, Leeteuk bustled out of the room with her two charges for the rooms that they frequented together most of the time. Kyungsoo had to turn his head over his shoulder to take one last glance at the sleeping wolf whilst Luhan merely stared before they shared a glance and nodded firmly to one another, already making a pact to look after the cub if no one else would do so.


	3. Chapter 2 - Naming the Wolf

Shifting slight in his sleep, Láng blinked his eyes open slowly and found that all he could see was fuzz. Warm soft bright white fuzz that as his eyes adjusted from the long slumber that he had been in, turned out to be a large sheep like toy with a pink waistcoat and a black hat. It was so cute that Láng squeaked and pulled it close to his chest. Tears pooled in his eyes as the warmth seeped into his body and he tried his best to remain quiet because he was sure that if the elders of the village heard him they would storm into the little dog house that he called his home and take everything away from him.

“Oh, good morning little cub,” a soft, motherly voice that sounded like melted chocolate drifted across instead which made Láng look up in surprise. 

There was a woman looking at him with a soft smile. She was average in height and a little plump side but Láng could just detect the scent of cubs about her which he figured meant that she was pregnant. She had long brown hair which was worn in a long braid that was twisted around the top of her head and her eyes sparkled with love, kindness and patience that could rival any that he could remember. 

Láng found himself wanting to leap straight at her to be hugged but he didn’t dare move because for one thing it was rude and for another he would probably be struck for trying to do that sort of thing. He had tried once in the village and was beaten for it. The woman however chuckled, “You’re just a little lost baby aren’t you?”

Smiling gently at the young cub who was still looking bewildered at her from his position under the soft toy and the blankets that had been laid upon him, Leeteuk could literally smell his confusion and wants without having to even take a deep breath. Her heart whilst already naturally having been caught by the news of a cub in distress, broke just a little bit more as she stared at this young, malnourished boy and had to wonder why anyone would abandon him. Even if there were laws against Trion Wolves, there should have been absolutely no way that any female wolf of any standing wouldn’t want to bring the poor boy into her arms and defy even their bonded mates wishes. 

The boy was clearly terrified, lost and abandoned with no one to guide him and when her husband got back from the village she was going to storm over there and demand answers out of them. Whilst this was Leeteuk’s first time of actually seeing an abandoned cub, her instincts to protect and nurture the other were already kicking in and there was no way that anyone else was going to look after him. 

But as alpha female she knew that she had to gain the trust of the little lost cub first and given some of the marks that had been on his pale little body, gaining that trust was going to take careful steps. This boy had been pushed away by everyone it appeared, his human parents probably dumping him as a freak of nature after he turned for the first time and by the looks of things the people in the village had also rejected him. Pushed him to the outskirts more than likely as a lowly pest and that thought infuriated her. Though it was dulled down considerably because she was indeed worried about what was going on at the village, if it had been attacked then the humans were getting closer to this safe haven and that could spell disaster for them all. 

However, she opted instead to focus her worries into one area and there was only one thing that Leeteuk was certain that she had to do. 

“What’s your name little one?” she asked towards the boy, her voice soft and neutral. 

The boy stared at her, blinking wordlessly in wonder towards her as if he were surprised that she was addressing him and Leeteuk couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her lips. “Oh, little one,” she spoke with tears pooling in her eyes that matched the dark blue ones which were still pooling with the unshed ones of having found something soft and warm to wrap himself around, “Has the world really been that cruel and unforgiving to you?” 

Slowly the cub in front of her nodded, or maybe he was just moving his head a little to bury himself deeper into the covers to hide from her but Leeteuk was more than used to seeing this. Over the last few years several homeless cubs had come into their care, after towns and havens had been attacked and their parents killed. Mostly werewolf cubs would remain in their wolf form as it was warmer and they felt more secure but she figured that since this cub had started off life as a human he would mainly remain as such or maybe he couldn’t even control his ability to change as of yet. There were so many possibilities and so many questions to answer but Leeteuk pushed them all aside. 

“I know something that will make you feel better,” Leeteuk said in a whisper like voice that had the cub silently turning his head up towards her, curiosity slipping through despite the tears that were now dripping down his face, “How about a nice hot bath, with some lovely fresh soap and then we can get you some breakfast. I think the cook has bacon and sausages ready already but she can make you anything that you want. Would you like that?” 

The boy blinked at her, his eyes wide as he stared at her before he nodded just a little before suddenly shifting to sit upright and Leeteuk panicked for a second thinking that he was going to hurt himself before she found skinny arms wrapping desperately around her neck in a hold that was tight and strong as a little too light body flung itself at her. Leeteuk wasted no time in returning the hug, pulling the little lost cub close and kissing the top of his head as tears streamed noisily down the boy’s face and incoherent words slipped out of his mouth. Leeteuk knew that this reaction was a little on the quick side but as she gently rubbed her head against the side of his face the only words that were able to escape her mouth were, “My boy. My little baby boy. It’s okay, I’ve got you, I’m never going to let you be alone again.” 

Leeteuk kissed the side of the youngster’s head repeatedly, “Your home son, you’re safe and I will always love you. Never forget that.” 

The boy nodded repeatedly as he continued to cry, barely understanding what he was doing or why he had reacted this way at all to the woman in front of him but he knew more than he had ever known anything in his life before that this was the right choice. That this lovely female werewolf who was currently pregnant and smelled of melting chocolate mixed with vanilla and pinecones would indeed always be the woman who would look after him and protect him like he was her own. The tiny cub inside him howled in glee, clearly happy to accept the wolf who was embracing him and not fighting against the decision in the slightest. 

Láng had no real understanding of how he had come to this situation but he knew more than ever that he was finally in a place where he could truly belong and there was no reason to be scared of himself anymore. 

~*~

Feeling a slight tingling burn on his right hand wrist, Kangin turned it over to smile as seeing a small wolven letter for K appear in a dark shade of red upon the skin before the pain stopped and the mark began to fade to a light brown. Siwon turned and looked to him, “What do you have to be happy about?” 

“I have a new son,” Kangin said towards his Master with a very pleased looking smile on his face, “Leeteuk has taken the wolf boy in as her own and he has clearly accepted her to. He’ll be my eldest and my heir more than likely.” 

The vampire sent him a confused look, “Really? So quickly? We have barely been gone a day.” 

Kangin nodded, “We wolves have an uncanny habit of being able to find our families even if they are not of blood relation.” 

Siwon looked a little confused but then sighed, “I guess that there are some things about wolven life that I shall just never really be able to know or understand.” 

“Just like how I cannot always understand some aspects of the vampire way of life,” Kangin chided back playfully towards his master. 

Smiling ruefully towards his alpha, Siwon nodded as they continued down the snow covered paths that would lead them to the town of Hiltrop which even from this distance both men could see was a lost cause. The pair had been Alpha and Master for many centuries, entering into a bond that was strong and neigh unbreakable when they were both just matured and whilst many had warned them against taking such an action it had proved to be one of the best bonds ever accomplished. A vampire could not just take any werewolf as their alpha, in fact many didn’t take one at all because of some ill-gotten notion that it was to protect a weaker vampire and there were many tales about what happened when the bond was forced upon an unwilling pair. 

However, Siwon was more than glad to have Kangin at his side, they were a strong pair with a fair sense of each other’s moods and could provide advice and guidance to one another without much troubles. Naturally they argued and fought but everyone said that they were more like brothers than Master and Alpha and their joint rule of the Choi clan made it one of the strongest and reliable clans in the whole supernatural community. 

But even with the strength of the bond that the pair had, nothing could quite prepare them for the total devastation that appeared before them. The former safe town of Hiltrop was little more than a pile of black ash against the white snow with only a few minor splatters of blood here and there to indicate that anyone had lived here once before.   
Siwon pulled out a handkerchief and held it to his nose, the stench of the dead was overpowering and he noticed that even the werewolves were having a hard time keeping what meagre meals they had eaten down. Kangin looked particularly troubled as they carefully stepped through the remains, fruitlessly trying to find some indication of who had done this hideous crime or what had led to the destruction of the town. 

One of the forward scouts, a plucky young werewolf by the name of Sungmin had travelled ahead and shook his head, “Everywhere is either burnt to the ground or dosed in holy water. I wouldn’t recommend travelling much further, my lords. This town is no more.” 

Kangin sighed and glanced up to the surrounding valley, gauging the nearest human settlement, “Why would they attack here? It’s a little travelled valley and this town has been here for centuries. Even the Hunters Guild knows of it and has left it alone for it proved to be an asset rather than a hindrance.” 

A half glance came his way from the vampire and Kangin sighed, “Well fine it wasn’t a threat but this is unlike anything I have ever seen.” 

“I agree,” Siwon spoke as he raised himself back into a standing position, “This is not a normal occurrence in the slightest. What could anyone have gained by...” 

His words were cut off as from the remains of a house there came a cry like a banshee and a figure, swathed in lose rags and hair as wild as the storms that brewed over the northern mountains appeared, leaping forward to latch onto the first available person who just so happened to be Sungmin, with long sharp fangs bearded in killing intent. Thankfully Sungmin was quick on his reactions and was able to knock the female figure away from his form and bring his sword straight down towards her neck with a cool grace that defied his age, “Cease friend, we are not your enemy.”

“All are enemy who come to this town,” the crazed woman spat, slapping at the blade with her long fingered hands and snarled appropriately, “All come to claim the blood of our kind! Whether they be our kind or not!” 

Sungmin looked towards Siwon for direction but the woman continued to scream, “Ever since the unnatural came, that’s when the trouble started. That’s when they found us, started to poison us. Wanted to get rid of us all.” 

“Who did?” Siwon asked, his voice filled with power and majesty as he strove towards the woman on the floor.

“Them that did this. Them that wanted to destroy the foul thing that tried to walk in our midst,” the woman hissed, her eyes flashing a series of multicolours, “Told the lords to get rid of him. To send him to doom and be done but that simpering mother wouldn’t have it. She was the first to go. They slit her throat in front of the unnatural and made him watch as she bled to death. Stopped him trying to make friends that did. Deserved that punishment.” 

Kangin stepped forward, anger beginning to radiate off of him, “Who is this unnatural you talk of?” 

“Láng!” the woman spat, saliva hitting the werewolf in the face, “That disgusting man wolf who should have never been allowed into our town. Should have been left to die.”   
Slowly Kangin wiped away the spit and stared levelly at the creature, “Why?” 

“Cause he brought the badness like a shadow, made the waters poisonous and killed the stock,” the woman continued, spitting and hissing as her body started to convulse almost as if she were in some form of trance yet every word was spoken clearer than day, “The bringer of doom and destruction! The one who shall make us all die and therefore he should be killed.” 

“Sir,” a changeling appeared next to Siwon, almost startling the Elder vampire but not quite, “I found this on the outskirts of the town.” 

A leather bound book, lined with blood red material that was only lightly singed by the flames was passed to Siwon and the Leader of the clan took a passing glance at it before hurriedly turning his eyes away from it. Kangin looked at him in concern, immediately sensing his distress and only caught a brief glimpse of the object in the vampire’s hand before he strode forward and grabbed it, tore it out of the creature’s hand and stormed to the nearest available container which happened to be an old barrel that was standing upright. He flung the offending manuscript into the dark depths and was satisfied to hear the squelch of something rotten on the bottom and immediately knew what orders to give. 

“Burn this barrel to the ground,” he barked out the command quickly, “and see that the ashes are buried deep so that no man, woman nor child may ever find them.” He turned around, staring at the crazed woman before glancing to Siwon who nodded before pulling out a dagger from his belt and handing it to the werewolf with a pale look upon his eyes.  
Kangin snatched the blade and stepped towards the still screaming woman before taking a deep breath, “Forgive this wretched way that this must end but this is for the betterment of our people and we cannot allow this infection of the mind to expand further.” 

The woman managed to look at him with shocked and crazy eyes for a second, looking ready to reach forward and attack once again but the dagger was thrust straight into her neck with a swift movement and with a gurgle sound she choked on her own blood. However, before she passed the madness left her eyes and Kangin knew that the tortured soul that had been forcibly trapped in that body was now at peace. 

Kangin stood up, handing the dagger back to Siwon who wore the same stoic expression. Sungmin and a couple of the younger members of the clan looked at the pair in horror, trying to decide what action they should take now but coming up with nothing that they could explain the pairs reaction. It fell to Siwon to explain and the vampire took a deep breath, “This town and safe haven has been corrupted by a deadly curse which turns our kind against one another in a disgusting attack on each other as the poison which comes from the cursed book infects everyone’s mind to the point where they will see every last person around them as an evil presence that must be destroyed. This town has already burnt to the ground but we must purify the souls that will be otherwise trapped here and ensure that any of those left are sent back to our makers to be renewed and join us in a new life.” 

He paused momentarily, “Do not think of sadness in this task, think only of the lives that have been saved by this unfortunate slaughter as I have personally witnessed the power of this curse once it takes hold of a community and the crimes that are committed against those who are your own kindred are too disturbing and horrible to mention. We make sure that this is the end of this particular curse and tomorrow eve we shall send out messengers to other towns and havens to warn them of the dangers that could come this way. Now we must deal with the dead and bring this chapter to a respectful end for the former town of Hiltrop”. 

The men and women who had travelled with the pair stared at Siwon, almost as if they didn’t quite believe what they had said and it took Kangin snapping at them for the trance to be broken and movement to begin. Siwon reached out to his alpha as he passed, “The boy?” 

“He ran from this,” Kangin said, his voice firm and even, “He tried to find help for a town that had rejected him. I do not think the curse will have affected him much...” his eyes fell suddenly on a small structure a good quarter mile away from the village and the wolf’s words died on his lips as he set out towards it. It took him mere minutes to reach the place and he blinked, staring at the structure which remained untouched by the flames or the horror that befell the village. It smelt very much like the cub, Láng if Kangin remembered the woman’s panicked screaming and clearly it had been his only shelter. 

It was a dog house, waterlogged and without any blankets and barely suitable for any creature to live in. He let out a sigh and turned back towards the town which he could now see was starting to burn with yellow flames and let out a sigh. “You saw the madness, dear child and you did the only thing you could have done. Ran to find someone to help. My boy, you shall indeed be a good man and wolf when you grow up.” 

Looking down at his wrist again, Kangin smiled already proud of the son that he had only just met and hoped that Leeteuk was in the process of spoiling him rotten. There were few who would have been able to resist the urge to run towards the town but maybe they had done him a favour in casting him aside in such a manner. Vaguely he wondered what the boy would be renamed to, because the letter on his arm was not the one that matched the current one that he had been supposedly gifted with but Kangin knew that he would find out probably the second that he got home. 

~*~

Having finally completed his morning routine, Luhan smiled brightly to his maid Hyukjae and gave her a big thank you hug before peeling away and rushing quickly downstairs. Breakfast was one of his favourite meals of the day and whilst his stomach was indeed grumbling just a little, it was the furthest thing from his mind. In fact, ever since he had gone to bed all he had been able to think and dream about was the strange little wolf boy who had come to the house and for no reasons that he could honestly explain, all the blond haired kindree vampire wanted to do was to make him feel safe and welcomed.

As well as maybe get him to play some games seeing as Kyungsoo had his private tuition to attend to that evening and would not be around. It was at times like this that Luhan usually ended up being bored because there was only so many games that he could play with the main maids of the house who were assigned to him and his cousin and there were really no other vampires his age. The werewolf cubs usually played with him when they were young enough but they grew up too quickly and despite being nearly eighty-five years old by the human perspective, Luhan was still mentally and physically an eight-year-old little boy. 

Kindree aged naturally this way, aging only one year for every ten that they lived until they reached the point of maturity and became recognised as a full vampire by society. Typically, this occurred between the ages of one hundred and ninety and two hundred and ten years old, which was why many people presumed that vampires were gifted with endless youth. They weren’t, just once they had reached maturity their aging process slowed down even further and it wasn’t always easy to tell how old a vampire was. Especially if they worked on fitting in with the local human population, then it was next to impossible. 

However, it was always possible to tell exactly how old a Kindree was by their physical and mental attributives. Luhan was still at the age of bright smiles, crazy adventures in the gardens and learning through experience as his formal schooling would commence when he was about to turn ninety which was a good five years from now. He would still be playful and probably as boisterous as any young boy would be but he would begin to have to form his role in the complex diversity of the society that he lived in. Though right at that moment in time, Luhan could think of nothing more than finding the new wolf boy to see if he wanted to play something with him. 

It didn’t take Luhan long to find him, the newest addition to the household was receiving lots of attention from virtually the whole wolf pack even though he looked terrified of every last one of them. He was clinging onto Leeteuk desperately, even though there were plenty of dishes in front of him that suggested that he had been eating a months’ worth of food and clutched in his hands was the white alpaca toy which Luhan had picked out for him the other night. 

Letting out a happy gasp, the kindree rudely pushed through the female omegas, deltas and betas to reach the alpha with a big smile and automatically extended his arms up towards her, “Guma!” 

“Ah good morning Luhan,” Leeteuk said, pulling the young boy into her arms and kissing his head affectionately, “You’re down early.” 

Luhan nodded, “Yes. Kyungsoo has lessons today and I wanted to play with the new wolf boy.”

Immediately the assembled women were cooing at their young master because it was known throughout the house that their Masters heir was just too adorable for his own good at times but Luhan barely paid them any attention. Instead he was staring straight at the new wolf cub who was looking at him with wide eyes from the safety of Leeteuk’s hold but with just a little less fear in his eyes than he had before. Luhan beamed happily at him and pointed at the toy in his grasp, “Is that one your favourite? I found them in the spare cupboard and there’s a load more if you want to go through them all.” 

The boy blinked, looking at the vampire with a slight tilt of his head before whispering, “There’s more?” 

Luhan nodded, “Yes. Lots more. You could have a mountain of them and there would still be lots left.” 

Another blink followed by a slow raising of his head as the boy looked up towards Leeteuk with a curious gaze. Leeteuk chuckled softly and nudged Luhan, “Introduce yourself to him, young master, he’s a little on the shy side at times.” 

“Hello, I’m Luhan Choi,” the kindree said with a smile and the politest voice that he could manage, “What’s your name?” 

The boy remained frozen for a second, looking up towards Leeteuk before looking back towards the young vampire after an encouraging nod from the woman whom he now considered to be his mother. Lightly he licked his lips before saying, “They called me Láng.” 

“Láng?” Luhan said in surprise, scrunching his nose up in a dismissive way, “That’s not a good name for you. What were you called before?” 

No one questioned why Luhan knew this fact, the young Kindree had displayed telepathic and empathic powers since the first time that he was able to talk and whilst it shocked Láng a little his attention remained firmly on the other in front of him. “Jiaheng...” he replied in the same whisper like voice. 

Luhan heard him perfectly and shook his head, “No. That’s not a good name for you. Not at all.” 

Leeteuk went to reprimand the boy lightly but was interrupted by a slightly loudly voice of Láng, “It’s not?”

“No,” Luhan shook his head, “You don’t look like a Jiaheng or a Láng and they’re not nice names for you at all. I think that a good name for you would be...” tilting his head to the side, Luhan went into deep thoughts for a few seconds before suddenly smiling brightly and pointing towards the other, “Kris.” 

“Kris?” the boy called Láng echoed back, blinking and seeming to think about it for a few seconds before repeating it just a little louder and letting out just the smallest of small smiles, “I’m to be Kris?” 

Luhan nodded, “Yes. Kris, it’s a good name for you, right Guma?” 

Staring between the pair, for a few seconds Leeteuk was unsure of how this whole situation was to work but then remembered that the letter which had appeared on her wrist was also a K. She smiled and snuggled against the new wolf cub, “Welcome to the family, my little Kris.” 

For a few seconds the boy looked shocked and then a bright smile virtually split his face in two as he hugged against Leeteuk and shyly offered his hand towards Luhan so that he could shake it.

“Hello, I’m Kris,” he spoke softly but with a little more confidence than before. 

Luhan smiled, “Hello Kris. Do you want to come and play with me and see if we can find more toys for you? I’m sure there’s hundreds around here.” 

Kris blinked looking a little unsure but Leeteuk gave him a nudge, “Go and play, it’ll do you some good after the amount you’ve eaten. Though you’re both to have a bath at three o’clock so don’t go wandering off without telling anyone where you’re going.” 

The kindree nodded, taking hold of the werewolf cubs hand, “I promise Guma! Come on Kris, you’re going to love this room. I just know it.” 

Before Kris could complain, he was being dragged off by the Kindree and Leeteuk could only shake her head in wonder towards the pair. Sophia, one the omegas turned to her, “What will Kangin think of all of this?” 

“He’ll be more than glad,” Leeteuk said as she pulled herself upright, “Plus it’s good for Luhan to interact with someone like Kris. I think they’re going to be very good friends.”


	4. Chapter 3 - Lessons to be Learnt

Sitting in the upstairs room, looking out across the snow strewed valley, Kyungsoo has a peculiar look in his eyes as he took in the landscape. He often like the view from up here, it was inspiring and wonderfully peaceful after his usual days of chaos and mayhem with his younger cousin but today he felt his mood darken. For reasons that he could not yet comprehend, memories were being stirred up inside his head making it impossible for him to concentrate on his lessons and be softly accused of spacing out. Not that he was chided too much by his private teacher, in fact the man said that out of most of the Kindree that he taught Kyungsoo was by far one of the more acclaimed of his students and would undoubtedly have a very bright future ahead of him once he found an area that he could really apply himself to. 

But that night, Kyungsoo had no interest in his books, letters or numbers and opted to just stare out of the window. Rain, his teacher, finally stopped droning on about some war from centuries ago and turned to the apparent nine-year-old boy, “What is bothering you today, Kyungsoo?” 

Blinking Kyungsoo turned away from the window and looked a little on the sheepish side, “I... sorry, pardon my rudeness.”

Rain smiled softly, “I have seen many who have been far ruder than you before Kyungsoo. What is distracting you from your second favourite conquest of the seven seas?”   
For a long while Kyungsoo was silent, the expression on his young face one that was filled with darkness and a bitter regret that looked to be very unbecoming on one so young. But there was always a lingering sadness around Kyungsoo, even in the times when he was a bright and happy child running around it was still just possible to see the pain that was lingering in his eyes. The bitterness of knowing that whilst he was loved, cherished and cared for by all in this clan that he would always just be slightly on the outside of it. A cousin to Luhan the heir, not a brother and therefore with no real family rights to the titles and estates that were owned by the Choi family. 

His own clan was no longer a part of the world, wiped out by a terrible sickness of the mind which Kyungsoo had no real understanding of but sometimes feared still lingered within him. The disease spread by the book that made families turn on one another, people who had grown up together suddenly turn distrusting of all around and the consequences of the dark places that all those dark thoughts lead to. A sickening shudder went through the youngster as once again the nightmarish screams of his mother and sisters tore through his head and the empty knowledge that he had been unable to save them even though he had sworn to protect them until his dying breath. 

Unable to stop himself dwelling on the bad memories that came rushing to the forefront of his mind, Kyungsoo found his heart beat racing rapidly as his beautiful almost angelic looking mother with her soft golden hair that ringletted out beautifully like a China doll hurriedly scooped him up from the bed and moved with inhuman speed through their grand old house which seemed to be filled with nothing but black choking smoke that had Kyungsoo’s eyes rushing with tears and his throat closing up with cough after cough. His mother gently petted his head and whispered soothing words to him as she darted through the corridors and down flights of stairs that the young boy had no idea existed before. 

“Mother?” he asked quietly when she came to an abrupt stop, one of her hands resting on the back of his head to force his face into the crook of her neck. 

“Don’t look, baby, don’t see the evil at work here,” the woman’s voice was as clear as a crystal spring in the height of summer and cut through all the raging heat, smoke and fire to create a bubble of peace that Kyungsoo drew himself into as he had been told to do. 

Vaguely he was aware of voices shouting, cruel words being exchanged and then there was a touch of freezing ice on his back that made all of the blood in his body literally freeze for a few seconds before a terrified scream could escape though from who he didn’t remember. The next thing he had really understood was the fact that he had been pushed into a coal shed by his mother who smiled at him radiantly one last time before slamming the metal doors shut and jamming them closed. 

Whatever coldness had been eating away at his body had melted almost instantly and Kyungsoo threw himself boldly forward, screaming for his mother at the top of his voice as some inner instinct knew that if he didn’t do something then he would never see her radiant smile ever again. He clawed at the metal doors, smashed his clenched fists against them and tried desperately to will up any form of elemental power that may be hiding within his body to just give him the option to get out. He had to escape from that cold metal room, he had to help his mother who was screaming in so much pain and he had to stop the mad men who were going to go after his baby sisters too. 

He continued to scream, sob and shout until he lost all abilities to do anything and finally when the dawn rose pink and clean over the horizon the next morning the little kindree had no strength left to fight his natural instinct to collapse to the coal strewed floor and fall into the deepest, darkest sleep that he had ever fallen into during the light of day.   
Kyungsoo had woken up nearly a month later, to be greeted by the concerned but a split second later happy face of his younger cousin Luhan who had apparently rested by his bedside since he had been brought to safety after having been found. Unashamedly Kyungsoo had broken down into tears, trying desperately to call out for his mother once again because he knew that she would come running only for the harsh reality to strike him that his mother was never coming back for him. Her last act in this world had been to save him and his young mind couldn’t comprehend how she had been unable to save herself. 

Rain stared almost helplessly at the young kindree sitting opposite him, seeing how he desperately fought back the tears and with a repressed sigh the vampire stood up, pulled out a silk handkerchief and moved to kneel in front of Kyungsoo. “You can cry you know,” Rain said, offering the handkerchief, “There is no shame in it.” 

“It doesn’t help,” Kyungsoo said, voice thick and heavy because he was trying so hard to be a grown up about the whole situation and utterly failing to do so. 

“Yes it does,” Rain spoke in a soft reassuring voice which contained years upon years of wisdom in it, “Even though we may not be human, Kyungsoo, we are still ruled by emotions and bottling up your fear, sadness, regret and hurt over the past will only lead to bitterness and a darkening of your soul. Tears are what allow us to release our fears, to let go of the sadness in our hearts and whilst the events that lead to you being with here with your Uncle and Cousin are going to leave scars that will never quite heal the tears that you cry will lessen the burden on your heart.”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “How?” 

“Because the sadness will disappear eventually, not entirely but it’ll be replaced by better times, by good memories and feelings which you can share with others,” Rain smiled as softly as he could, “The past shapes us but I have learnt over the years that there is already too much sadness, anger, hatred, guilt and regret in the world without adding your own personal problems to the mix. If you want to cry over the death of your mother and sisters, then cry over them. Cry until there is nothing left in you and trust me, one day you will feel the better for doing so.”

The Kindree with the dark hair sighed and looked down at his fingers, “I haven’t cried in years over them.” 

“That is true, but you have been reminded of it very recently which has caused the memories to resurface,” Rain said, choosing his words carefully. 

Kyungsoo raised his head, “You mean...the wolf boy?” 

A nod was his answer, “Even though you have not said it out loud, you recognise what he has gone through because you have personal experience of the exact same thing and it scares you a little bit more than you would like to admit.” 

For a few seconds Kyungsoo paused to think about that and then he paled. Yes, he had recognised the lingering fear in the wolfs body, the way that he was undernourished and the fear of speaking out. All wolf cubs were cherished and looked after, the omegas couldn’t help but do it because it was in their nature to look after cubs and even more dominant classes of betas and alphas wouldn’t dare to harm a cub. Especially one that looked to be so lost and confused to begin with. They would get uppity sometimes and not want the cub around, reject them from their presence but that could also easily happen with their own cubs sometimes but they would never allow a cub to be left in the wilderness. Even if they were on the fringe of the pack or a rouge they would be given food and shelter under strict guidelines and rules. 

Plus, the way his uncle had reacted had given him more than enough indication that something was happening once again which should have never been allowed to come to light. Suddenly Kyungsoo hiccupped as he focused on the wolf boy who had been so scared to be in an alpha’s embrace and knew he recognised that fear. The fear of being rejected, left alone in a world that was far too big, lonely and cruel for someone small and unsure for him to survive. 

The tears burst forth from Kyungsoo, long nasty streams that brought a stuffed up nose and difficulties breathing but Rain merely remained by his side throughout, offering encouraging words and not belittling him in the slightest for the shameful outburst of emotions that he was currently showing. It was not something that he was proud of in the slightest but it even to his very young mind, Kyungsoo could feel the weight lifting off his shoulders and freeing him from the anxiety that had been clawing at him. 

Slowly he accepted the handkerchief and used it to wipe his eyes and blow his nose in an embarrassingly loud way but he kept the piece of silk material close to him once he was finished, “I’ll get the maids to clean and return it to you.” Kyungsoo words were spoken in a mature tone and hinted just a little of the man who was waiting to be grown into.   
Rain shook his head, “It’s fine, I can get plenty more in the markets. I think that we will conclude our lessons for today Kyungsoo.” 

Kyungsoo looked up, “But won’t you get into trouble.” 

“Kyungsoo, for one your age you are far further along than most of your peers,” Rain said in soft tones, “In fact the only other boy of your age who is beyond you is part of the Renwick Clan and that is to be expected. Though I am going to give you some homework which I expect you to carry out and write a diary on every night for the next two weeks.”   
The kindree looked at Rain with confusion as he was not the type to keep a diary in the slightest but he would do so as he had been requested to. 

Rain smiled, “I want you to make friends with the new wolf boy and teach him everything that you can in order to help him through the difficult times ahead. I want you to teach him how to play, how to trust others and how his place will fall into our world because I doubt that he’ll know anything of it. Does that sound like good homework to you?”   
If the face splitting smile was anything to go by, Rain was pretty sure that he would have a novels worth of diary to read by the time the fortnight was over. But he was proud of the fact that Kyungsoo wasn’t shying away from this challenge as the wolf boy was going to need friends and Kyungsoo needed to learn his own lessons on relying on other people too. 

The tutor laughed as Kyungsoo pulled himself off his seat, rushed to give him a hug before hurrying back to his desk to tidy it up and then go running off out of the door like a hyperactive child who had just been told he could open the presents early. Rain shook his head and made a note for Siwon and Kangin so they would know what Kyungsoo was up to and he was sure that they would completely agree on this course of action as it was something that could easily benefit both boys. 

It was only when Kyungsoo was half way down the stairs and heard the joyful laughter of his younger cousin did he actually pull himself up short and wonder just about how he was going to go about this whole little scenario as he didn’t really know how to make friends. Kindree were few and far between these days and with constant dangers coming from humans and some of the more vicious clans who wanted to keep the bloodlines pure or some horrible reason like that it was rare for Kindree to meet up unless they were at a specialist school or else they were family. 

It was perfectly logical that he had made friends with Luhan but that was pretty much a given as Luhan had a natural charm when it came to making friends and always seemed to be on the right track in any social situation. That coupled with the warm vibe he gave off made Luhan instantly approachable and it had been noted by many of the elders that it would be a great political asset for the youngster when he grew up. Being heir to a clan was no easy feat and being able to drift through all different kinds of social groupings was something that had to be learnt and perfected over the years. 

For Luhan however, life was already as smooth as water and he could fit in and adapt to any change of circumstance within mere minutes. 

It was slightly irritating for Kyungsoo who had to always desperately try to remember everything that he had been taught cause despite the fact that the Do clan had been virtually wiped out, he was still a recognised heir and when he came of age whatever assets had been salvaged back from the wreck would be rightfully his to claim. Something he wasn’t sure he was entirely looking forward to but that was all many years into the future so he did not have to worry about it just yet. 

No right now he had to worry about trying to make friends with a wolf boy whom was probably scared out of his mind. Though Luhan’s bright laughter came from down the corridor and Kyungsoo found himself smiling despite his nerves. “I can do this,” Kyungsoo said out loud to himself, “I can and I will.” 

Straightening out his clothes, the eldest Kindree in the house took a deep calming breath and made his way down the stairs in a manner akin to that of one who was attending a ball rather than a little boy going to make friends but it didn’t take him long to drop the pretence as he found where the two youngsters were. 

Luhan had clearly made friends with the wolf boy, or more correctly had charmed him into at least following him around and they were situated in the lower ground floor library which had slowly become a favourite playroom for the young vampire over his long decades of life. There was a wall lined completely with children’s literature books, all leather bound and heavy set and more three quarters of them had been diligently read by the youngster. The opposite wall was seemingly a montage of artistic works that Luhan had drawn and coloured in a variety of mediums from chunky crayons to almost beautiful acrylics that were mesmerising to behold and by human standards probably lesser masterpieces. 

Though to the supernatural world, they were good starting pieces for the creatively minded boy and Kyungsoo always found himself marvelling at them. He too had once painted and drawn but since the time of his mother’s passing he had found himself only able to do macabre and things that spoke of a mind severely unhinged so he had given it up for now. Maybe one day he would return to the works but right now he would much more prefer to pretend that life was something of an innocent game that was only corrupted much later in life. 

The rest of the room was taken up with neatly aligned boxes that were filled with toys and shelves that held interesting treasures which captivated the childish innocence of his cousin at any given time. There were toy soldiers and a train set were haphazardly left out on the floor but it was presumably because Luhan had not tidied them away as he was far too preoccupied with the arrival of the new wolf to notice that he hadn’t put the toys away like he was supposed to. 

Kyungsoo was almost surprised that Divine, one of the maids who looked after them exclusively, had not already chided the boy but knowing the will-o-wisp she was probably wanting to coo and look after the new arrival to the mansion so had probably forgotten that fact. There was one other thing in the playroom that briefly caught the elder kindree’s attention as he scanned around looking for the precise location of his cousin and the new wolf boy, and that was a very beautiful hand crafted doll house which was situated in one of the large window boxes. 

It was styled simply and effectively in light browns with dark window frames and opened up on a cleverly designed hinged so that there were multiple rooms available to be decorated with furniture and dolls. Everything about the house and the items that went with it spoke of age and craftsmanship and upon first glance it would merely appear to be something that was well cared for but not overly used since it was a little boy who mainly occupied the room. However, Kyungsoo had lost count of the number of times that he had come across his little cousin actually playing with the house, dusting the contents down or rearranging it as he saw fit and it was a task that could keep him occupied for hours. 

Only once had Kyungsoo asked about why Luhan did it, since really it was an odd choice for any young man and the other had just smiled, “It reminds me of someone.”   
It had been a year later that Kyungsoo had finally learnt that the doll house had once belonged to Luhan’s mother and Siwon had not the heart to throw it away after her unfortunate death. He had meant to keep the doll house someplace away from Luhan but on one of his random wandering sessions as a mere twenty-year-old the little vampire had come across the toy and had asked for it to be placed into the playroom. 

Siwon had agreed because he did not want to hurt Luhan’s feelings and it was one of the youngsters most precious items. Kyungsoo still found it a little bit strange that Luhan wanted to play with a dolls house but he opted not to try and sit through another explanation because he had just completely lost all interest in what he was saying.   
But that wasn’t important anymore, he just had to find where Luhan and the new wolf boy were and then he could work on his homework for the rest of the fortnight. Only when his dark eyes finally landed on the place where the pair were, he found himself nearly unable to contain his laughter. 

Sitting in front of the books, surrounded by a pile of cuddly toys was the unknown named wolf boy and he had the most adorable surprised look on his face. He stared almost dumbfounded at the collection of toys which was slowly growing bigger as Luhan kept on racing back and forth to his numerous toy boxes to find more and clearly the wolf was just getting overwhelmed by the sheer number. 

He was still holding onto the white alpaca that they had found for him initially and Kyungsoo smiled as he spotted that there were two others were within easy reach but the dark blue eyes just kept on switching from new bear to the next with fascination and curiosity that Kyungsoo felt his heart go out to the boy. It was easy to guess that he had probably originally come from a working family, maybe even a farm boy or something of that ilk but since his unfortunate transformation he had probably had next to nothing that he could call his own. 

Carefully Kyungsoo stepped forward, eying the boy with eyes that few adults possessed and he felt his heart break even more. The wolf boy was so thin that all his bones stood out against his skin and there were many scars upon his body that should have never been there in the first place. There was one, on the centre of his back that made the vampire cringe and almost drive heave as he felt a similar stinging burn on his left hand shoulder. It was a mark of a pentagram, burnt by magnesium onto the skin in a ritual that was both horrifying as it was impossible to do. 

Kyungsoo shook his head to dispel the memories and reached up for a pure black teddy bear which sat on a shelf all by itself and once upon a time it had belonged to him. Though when it had been recovered from the ruins of his former home Kyungsoo had refused to look at it and wanted nothing more to do with the bear but seeing the wolf boy’s reaction to the mounds that Luhan was setting in front of him, it was clear that he would need to start his own collection soon. 

Nodding Kyungsoo stepped towards the pair, smiling as Luhan set down more of his collection of soft toys as well as brightly stating the names of each and every one of them. “This one is Bear and that one is Totoridile cause he just needed a really strange name and this one is Pinkie for obvious reasons and that one…actually I can’t remember which one he is.” 

Blinking Kris looked up as he heard someone chuckle and found himself looking at Kyungsoo who was smiling towards his younger cousin, “Honestly Luhan, you’re going to overwhelm our new visitor if you keep that up.” 

Luhan turned his head up and smiled brightly, “You got let out of classes early?” 

“Yes though I’ve got some homework to do but it’s a very fun kind,” Kyungsoo said patting the boys head. 

“Excellent,” Luhan exclaimed really happily, “You can help me to help Kris pick his toys!” 

“Kris?” Kyungsoo asked, blinking his surprise. 

“Yes, Kris,” Luhan said, indicating the other little boy, “Our new family member.” 

For a few seconds Kyungsoo looked confused and then he smiled, “Ah, you’ve been adopted then?” 

The wolf boy nodded, looking confused up towards the new addition who was suddenly talking to him and subconsciously gripping at the alpaca toy he had in his grip.   
The smile didn’t fall off of Kyungsoo’s face, in fact it just grew stronger as he knelt down, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to bite you or anything. My name is Kyungsoo and I’m Luhan’s elder cousin and I live here with him so you’ll see me around a lot.” 

Kris blinked at him before turning his head ever so slightly to the side, resulting in him looking even more like a puppy than before, “You…you were playing…?”   
Kyungsoo nodded, “Yes, that was me. You gave us quite the shock but don’t worry about it. We’ll be your friends, won’t we Luhan?” 

“Yes!” Luhan said brightly, before looking around the collection of toys, “Now Kris, which one do you want?” 

The werewolf was back to looking scared and confused once again, clearly overwhelmed by the sudden option of having a choice placed right in front of him. He looked about the toys with a growing fear and panic, almost afraid that if he chose the wrong one then he would get punished for it and Kyungsoo knew that this was his chance. 

“Here, how about this one?” Kyungsoo spoke softly towards Kris, holding out the black teddy bear towards the wolf, “He’s one that I don’t play with anymore and I think you’d treat him far better than I ever did.” 

Looking up into the dark brown eyes, Kris hesitated for a few long seconds before finally reaching out to take the offered toy into his hands before pulling it closer to himself in order to just stare at it. He blinked and looked up, “For me? Really?” 

Kyungsoo nodded, “Yes. You can name him whatever you want to if you want.” 

The wolf blinked and looked down at the bear again before smiling, “Shadow.” 

“Perfect,” Luhan said with a smile, hugging his own teddy bear close to his chest and looking not in the least bit offended by the fact that Kyungsoo’s bear had been chosen over any of his, “I think he’s going to be good for you Kris.” 

A tiny smile formed on Kris’s lips as he looked up to the pair of cousins in front of him as he hugged the bear close to his chest. He didn’t know how he had come to this situation but he was more than glad that he had done so. In his childish mind-set he swore to repay the pairs kindness for the rest of his life and sealed his future with them regardless of what was to come.


	5. Chapter 4 - What should be done

Rushing down the stairs as the grand front doors finally shut with a heavy thump, Leetuek was quick to throw a blanket over Siwon’s shoulders and lightly pat the vampire down, “How many?” 

“Only this one and the youngster over there,” Kangin replied with a smile, slightly hoisting his master up on his shoulder just a bit more as the vampire began to sag with the building need to sleep as the sun continued to rise higher into the sky, “He made sure that everyone else got in first.” 

Shaking her head with amusement at the notion that Siwon was too kind hearted for his own good sometimes, the alpha female moved quickly to support the vampire’s opposite side and began to guide him up towards his master bedroom. “I don’t suppose that you could have found shelter in any other means do you?” 

This time the vampire shook his head, “No. There was nothing from here to the ruins of that town. The boy did well to find us when he did.” 

The mates shared a look of concern, a silent conversation passing through their almost telepathic abilities to be able to speak to one another without having to use verbal words. All wolves could manage this particular trait but once certain bonds were formed there were channels of communication that only they could access. Siwon always thought that it was a useful and somewhat tactile survival element that the wolves had in comparison to vampires but they couldn’t all be the same otherwise that would just get very boring and predictable very quickly. 

He saw the female wolf’s reaction however to hearing about the book and a look of fear passed across her eyes, “You’re not thinking of giving him the test are you?” 

If the words were supposed to be spoke aloud or not, Siwon did not know but it brought an extra lead weight to his stomach. Thankfully Kangin replied for him as in his weakened state it was harder to cope with everything. “He lived in a dog house a quarter of a mile away from the village, the touch should only be a very small amount if that,” gently Kangin sighed, “Plus they rejected and blamed him for everything that went wrong so we must presume that he became afraid of it which should have pushed it out of his mind.”   
Siwon raised his head, “We tested Kyungsoo and we must test your new wolf to keep the peace between the clan.” 

There was a harrowing silence between the three as they continued to ascend the stairs, each lost in their own thoughts. Putting Kyungsoo though the test had been a very trying time for everyone present because it was nothing short of making someone face their greatest fears but it had been necessary as he had been directly involved with the madness that had gripped his clan. His influence had been slight because he was far too young to understand what was happening to him and thankfully his mother had seen enough sense to keep him grounded in reality but even then it had been a struggle for the youngster to pass the test. 

It had been a relief when he finally emerged from the experience, pale as a ghost and mentally completely exhausted but Siwon had taken the boy into his arms and just held onto him to lull him into a natural sleep. Though the man who conducted the test warned them all that there may be a seed still deeply lodged into the innermost sections of the youngster’s mind that could fester and boil over if he were to get into extremely stressful or heart-breaking situations. Something which was naturally unavoidable but he recommended a series of courses and lessons on dealing with such stresses would greatly reduce the risk of such a problem from developing. 

It was still an event that none of them wished to live through ever again but this time they would hopefully be prepared for any problems. “I’ll send for the Doctor in the evening,” Kangin said softly, “Though I doubt that he’ll be anything like Kyungsoo.” 

“I do hope you are right,” Siwon said, pulling up short all of a sudden to stop the two werewolves in their tracks, “Where is my son?” 

“Sleeping already, like the little angel that he is,” Leetuek smiled softly, before tilting her head to the side in thought, “I think Kyungsoo and Kris are with him as well this evening.”  
Both men turned to look at her in surprise, “Kris?” 

Leetuek nodded, “Yes. It’s the name that Luhan bestowed upon our new son.” 

“Luhan gave him the name?” Kangin frowned, unable to fully see how such a thing could have occurred. 

His mate nodded her head in response, “Because Láng was too dismissive a name and he did not like the sound of his former human name so simply gave him the name Kris and Kris took it without much of a question.” 

Siwon couldn’t help but smile softly at that, chuckling a little, “The innocence of youth is still a miracle to behold sometimes. Though I suppose it does go towards the boy’s credit if he accepted another name without a fight.” 

Kangin nodded his head in response and tugged Siwon further along the corridor, “We should get you to bed, before you pass out completely.” 

“No, let me see him, please,” Siwon said with a voice that was filled completely and totally with a heavy slumber but also an underlying stubbornness that would refuse to be budged under any circumstances. Both the alphas were perfectly used to this sort of behaviour from their vampire master, as he was still as strong in temperament as he had been for centuries despite the heartbreaks that had befallen him. Plus, Siwon believed that if he saw his son every night before he fell asleep that when he woke up in the morning the child would still be there and would not disappear. 

It was a rather silly belief, even Siwon himself had agreed to it on a number of occasions in polite and friendly conversations with others but it was something that he had known his wife would have done because she truly believed in such superstitions and in order to keep her memory alive he would always attempt to look at his son before he went to sleep. It was becoming a lesser habit now as Luhan continued to grow and learn something new each day but tonight Siwon knew that he wanted to look upon his son though the reason why was as of yet unclear. 

Still Kangin hoisted the vampire higher up onto his shoulder to take the weight off his mate who hurried forward down the corridors, vast skirt billowing out just a little bit more as she did so and in what felt like a number of seconds they were at the door to Luhan’s bedroom. 

Ever so slight left ajar, just in case the bogey man came to grab him, Luhan’s room was grand and designed more for a vampire who was much older than he was but Luhan had always liked this room very much and never really wanted to change much about it. With the heavy drapes pulled shut over the windows there was little to actually see except for the large four poster bed which had three sides of the curtains drawn shut but the side nearest the door just left half open so that someone looking in could observe the three slumbering figures without worries of disturbing them. 

As the smallest of the three boys, Luhan lay in the middle, propped up on a lot of pillows and wrapped tightly underneath his blanket. Kyungsoo was on his right hand side, head resting on his younger cousin’s shoulder and one hand wrapped lightly over the boy’s torso. The now confirmed wolf cub named Kris was curled into Luhan’s left hand side, head resting on top of his stomach and three alpaca toys hugged into his arms. His little chest rose and fell with each breath that he took, making it easy to spot him out of the three as both Luhan and Kyungsoo were still as statues, the vampiric sleep akin to death for humans. 

Siwon smiled as he observed the trio, looking to be so calm and peaceful with nothing to trouble them in the entire world and gently he reached out his hand to brush a few stray strands of hair from his son’s forehead, “I’m home, just like I promised to be. Though it looks like tonight you don’t need me in order to chase away your nightmares do you Luhan?” 

The words were whispered softly and Siwon leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead before pulling back, “I guess that I shall see you in the evening, son, I’m sure you have a lot of stories to tell me.” 

Nodding as he pulled back, Siwon gently stroked the side of Kyungsoo’s face before place a kiss onto the young vampire’s temple before reaching across to pet lightly at Kris’s messy crop of black hair. He nearly jumped about three foot in the air when the boy on instinct moved closer to the comforting touch before naturally settling down into a more comfortable sleeping position with a long, drawn out and very contented sigh. 

Smiling, Siwon ruffled more of the boy’s hair before pulling his hand back and accepting the offered help of Kangin’s arms to take him to his own bed in order to sleep off the exercise of the day. It had surely been one of many different discoveries and there were probably a whole lot more to come but right now the vampire master wanted nothing more than to just fall into his own bed and be claimed by the same sleep that his son was in as for the first time in centuries, Siwon was genuinely exhausted. 

~*~

The next evening as the trio of young boys made their way down towards breakfast, Kyungsoo finding himself in the unusual situation of having to hold onto both Luhan and the newly named Kris’s hand though the werewolf was still carrying his alpaca toy as he seemed to be unable to leave it anywhere for any length of time, they were brought to a natural curious stop by the arrival of a man into the long corridor from out of Siwon’s office. He was, like most vampires, tall and very regal looking with slicked back black hair, piercing dark brown eyes and was dressed in a plain looking suit that held a single gold pin on the lapel which was shaped like a crow in flight. 

Kyungsoo immediately tensed up upon seeing the man and immediately knew what he was here for. Gently the eldest of the three shook his head, “No... just no.”   
“Ah, hello Kyungsoo,” the man said softly, his tone pleasant and completely unassuming before a smile filtered onto his lips, “I am glad to see that you are...”

“No!” Kyungsoo stated again, his resolve hardening as he stepped back, fear flashing in his eyes, “I won’t, you can’t make me.” 

The man raised his hand gently up in the air in surrender, “Kyungsoo, I am not here for you today. You have already passed the test and you know that fact.” 

Deflating a little in relief the kindree was about to apologise when his eyes fell on the new werewolf and suddenly it all clicked in his mind. Horror ran through his mind and heart and before he could even register what he was doing, Kyungsoo had grabbed the rightfully confused cub and pulled him into a protective embrace whilst he glared directly at the vampire in front of him. The glare was filled with distrust and anger but also a fierce loyalty and protection, something which almost caused a smile to cross the vampire’s face as it meant the seed which he feared was being put to good use and any lingering effects of what had happened to him would be slowly changed. 

However, Hangen knew that antagonising the youngster would not be a good idea either as it could make this little situation a whole lot more difficult than it already was and he really did not want to put any undue pressure onto the boy that he would have to test. 

“No,” Kyungsoo spoke with a firm conviction, clearly prepared to defend his new friend to the uttermost ends of his little world, “You’re not putting him through that! You’re not!”   
Luhan blinked towards his elder cousin, having not a single clue as to what the boy was doing and looking back at Hangen who just remained calm and controlled. He turned his head back towards Kyungsoo who was now in the process of trying to shield Kris with his body, the fearsome glare still settled on the man in front of him and the younger kindree could not even begin to formulate why Kyungsoo would be acting like this at all. “Kyungsoo?” the simple word gave away many hundreds of questions but left enough room for the other to choose which one he would answer first. 

However, the worried look that crossed Kyungsoo’s face was interrupted by the appearance of Siwon who emerged from his office with a commanding look on his face that was neither too strong or too soft. “Kyungsoo,” the name was spoke with a soft authority this time and was the type that was very hard to be ignored or disobeyed, “You know why we have to do this.” 

Kyungsoo shook his head, holding his new friend closer, “Not to him. He’s just a terrified cub who knows next to nothing about our world.”

Hangen sighed softly and approached the pair, “We know that, believe me we do and even I have put forward my own objections to this, especially given what happened to him.” The brown eyes flicked across to look only at Kris who had turned his head towards him with a somewhat distrusting look that caused the wolf cub to instantly gravitate more towards his current source of protection though by the worried scent that was coming off the youngster it was highly probably that a very disgruntled wolf mother would be coming along shortly to identify what was messing with her cub. “However, we have to make absolutely sure that there is not a single drop of the madness hidden within him or...” he paused to lick his lips and look directly into the dark eyes of the kindree hoping he did not need to speak the rest of that sentence. 

It did not take long for the youngster to figure out the meaning behind the words and he pulled the wolf cub into his chest just a little bit tighter, going to form words on his lips that were all too common but it was Siwon who reached out to place a comforting hand on the others shoulder. 

“You are a very brave young man and it’s commendable that you want to protect our newest clan member,” Siwon smiled, “and believe me if there was a way to do this other than this way, then we would but...”

“He doesn’t need to go through that,” Kyungsoo had tears in his eyes, shaking his head drastically, “It’ll give him nightmares for a week if not more and I’m supposed to help him adjust to this new life!” 

There was a sudden wriggling below him and everyone was surprised to see that Kris softly pulled himself out of the embrace and turned to look at Hangen with eyes that were filled with determination and a surprising amount of strength. “You want to see that I’m not going to go like the village, right?” his voice was soft, respectful and slightly scared but spoken perfectly which was a drastic change from the usual timid, unsure and nearly devastated boy whom had only spoken a scattering of words before.   
Hangen nodded slowly, “I’m afraid that it is...” 

“If I pass will the clan accept me?” Kris cut in, a little rudely but with a grim determination in his words. 

Siwon nodded, “You already are, Kris, you have nothing to fear then.” 

“What if I fail?” the young boy asked, trying not to shudder at the thought but more than able to keep his cool for the time being. 

The Master of the clan knelt down, “You would not be thrown out. We would work with you and try to eliminate the damage done by those books. Unless you posed a serious threat to the clan of course but I doubt that you ever would.” 

For a few seconds Kris seemed to think about it before nodding, “I’ll take the test.”

“No!” Kyungsoo cut in, looking pale and making a grab for Kris again, “Listen you don’t...”

“I want to belong Kyungsoo,” Kris said, his voice losing some of the courage that he had gained but the conviction behind the words clear, “I... I want to be free of that...all that...” shaking his head, Kris looked away and shook his head, “I don’t want to lose another...family...” he hiccupped, trying to hold back tears, “so if this helps...I’ll take it.” 

Luhan stepped forward to take hold of the cub’s hand, tears trickling down his face even though there was a great big smile on his face. “You can do it,” he said, his little voice filled with pride and conviction, “I know you can.” 

Smiling for the first time, though he really didn’t understand why, Kris reached out to pet the younger boy’s head before ruffling his hair with affection and glee that confused him for a few seconds but he did not let that thought bother him much in the slightest. “Thank you,” he said towards the younger vampire before turning to the still worried looking Kyungsoo and surprising him by throwing a hug around his form.

“I’ll come back,” he whispered into Kyungsoo’s ear, “I’ve already survived this far and maybe this is where I need to be.” Pulling back the wolf cub grinned, “Just trust in me, please?” 

Kyungsoo still looked to be really unsure about the situation but glared instead at Hangen, “If you do anything to hurt him...” 

The elder vampire nodded, as he stood up to offer his hand to Kris, “Do not fear. I will have two very upset werewolf parents to deal with first and then you can finish the job of kicking me senseless.” 

Turning to look one last time at their werewolf friend, Kyungsoo and Luhan were surprised to see that all they got was a larger smile in return, before Kris handed Kyungsoo his alpaca toy with a nod, “You can keep her safe and give her back to me when I come back, is that all right?”

Blinking as he took the toy, Kyungsoo stared at Kris and felt his worry grow because he knew that Kris had an extreme attachment to this toy but he felt Luhan place his little hand on his and the youngster grinned back towards Kris. “I’ll make sure that he takes the best care of her for you,” Luhan said, his eyes glistening, “Cause her brothers will miss her, right?”

Nodding, Kris gave a soft wave before looking up to the vampire and allowing him to lead him into one of the private rooms. Siwon glanced down at the two worried looking boys before smiling and pulling both of them into a hug, hoisting them off the ground and opting to carry them down to breakfast instead of returning to his duties. It had been a long time since he had actually just spent an evening with the pair and it was probably going to be for the best. 

Part of him wished that Kyungsoo had not reacted like that in front of Luhan but the Master took it as a good sign that the other would grow up to be a protective and loving man eventually. 

When they reached the clan dining room, Leetuek looked up at the trio in surprise and blinked before taking hold of Kyungsoo to allow him to cuddle into her, “What are you three doing up together? This is a rare occurrence indeed.” 

Siwon chuckled as he shifted his son ever so slightly, so that he could bend down to pick up the toy which Kyungsoo had dropped and passed it straight back to the youngster. “No good in saying that you’re looking after it if it you keep on dropping it now is there?” 

Kyungsoo blinked and quickly took the toy back, holding it tightly to his chest and looking to be quite frankly miserable about it. Surprisingly it did not take Leetuek very long to click and she sighed, glancing up at Siwon with a stern look, “Did they have to find out?” 

“I wasn’t intending them to know of it,” Siwon replied, shifting his stance a little so that he could sit down easier, allowing Luhan to twist half towards the table to grab a couple of fresh pancakes which had just arrived in an attempt to get Kyungsoo to at least eat something. “Unfortunately they happened to be passing my office when Hangen walked out of it and Kyungsoo recognised him immediately.”

Leetuek nodded and kissed the top of Kyungsoo’s head, watching with some amusement as Luhan attempted to cheer up his elder cousin by trying to feed some of the pancake to the alpaca toy that belonged to Kris. “I can imagine the reaction that caused.” 

“On the contrary,” Siwon smiled as he accepted a piece of pancake from Luhan out of nothing more than an urge to indulge his son than actually needing to, “He tried to prevent Kris from going through it.” 

The alpha female blinked in surprise and then looked down at Kyungsoo, “Really? You tried to protect my Kris?” 

Kyungsoo looked up just at the wrong moment as Luhan was gently stabbing a fork with pancake smeared in honey and berries towards him which ended up getting smeared all over the elders cheek but for once he did not complain and instead addressed the alpha female, “I don’t want him to be any more hurt or upset...he doesn’t deserve it...Luhan!” turning to the youngster to snatch the fork with a pout, Kyungsoo ate the offered treat and grabbed a table napkin to wipe off the excess before doing the exact same thing back towards his cousin and not immediately scolding him like he should do. 

The two grownups above them shared equal smiles as they watched the two boys and both prayed that Kris would come out of this whole situation unscathed so that he could focus on learning the most important things of his childhood. Namely making friends and learning how to play as it would all be important tools for him when he was older and had to learn about running his own pack. Something which was surely going to be an interesting sight to see as there had not been a recorded Trion Alpha for a very long time.   
However, after the display that Siwon had just seen, he was in no doubt that the boy would indeed become a strong leader with a fair sense of balance that was just perfect for the role that he would have to take on. As long as the test did not depress him to the point that he cut off from the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time in uploading this, got majorily side tracked but will update with what I have  
> Hope you enjoy


	6. Chapter 5 - Teeth Marks of Truth

The yell which had come from the room where Hangen had taken the new werewolf cub into not half an hour ago, instantly made Kangin and Siwon on their feet and rushing to the door. They both knew that it would be locked but they had to try the door regardless to ensure that Kris did not do something that he would be forever scarred for. Surprisingly when Kangin tried the handle, it clicked wide open and the next second the werewolf in human form found his arms filled with a panicking wriggling mass that squeaked constantly in fear and fright. 

“What the?” Kangin half stammered, finally able to get a firm grip on the thing that was clawing him to pieces almost and thrusting the creature so that it was away from his body at arm’s length but still wriggling. 

Siwon stared in surprise as he realised that his Alpha was holding onto a white and light tanned wolf cub with stunning blue eyes that was still wriggling about in fright and taking occasional nips at the alpha’s arms but with no real force behind them. The cub gave off a clear scent of being terrified and very much wanting to get away from the source of its fear which was perfectly natural but the elder vampire could not even begin to think why there would be a wolf cub in the room because most cubs of that age would stay firmly with their mother for safety and protection. 

That was when the thought struck and he stared again at the wriggling pup in Kangin’s hands, “Kris?” 

Kangin was merely staring at the pup and barely flinching at the bites that were coming his way but it was possible that he was trying to calm the youngster down by using the alpha pheromones that were slowly seeping into every last pour of the room and corridor to create a stench that would generally only be reserved for when two alphas were fighting for dominance over a pack. However, Hangen appeared at the doorway with a handkerchief on his arm, “Kangin, I would stop that, it’s not going to work.” 

Kangin blinked and was about to protest when he himself remembered Kris’s situation and stopped the scent instead pulling the cub towards his body to pet him, “Hush, Kris...hush. It’s fine, you’re safe and nothing is going to hurt you.” 

Slowly the cub stopped his frantic wriggling and became silent before starting whimpers which would undoubtedly bring a certain alpha female storming to their side in a matter of seconds with furious demands to know what they had done to upset the cub. However, Kangin merely began to pet the little wolf’s ears and nuzzled him lightly, “Looks like I’m going to have to play Daddy in a moment, this little guy is terrified.” 

“Good,” Hangen said in response, “I don’t need to tell you that he’s passed the test.” 

Siwon turned his head in surprise, blinking, “He was barely in there an hour.” 

The vampire nodded, “Most of those subjected to the test take less than five minutes to respond the way he did but I think Kris’s confusion over our world is what delayed his natural response to the test.” 

“Which was what exactly?” the head of the Clan asked, glancing at the lesser whining puppy who was curled up in the alpha’s arms. 

“He bit me,” Hangen smiled, holding up his arm, “his natural instinct was to flee from the cause of his fear and since his human side couldn’t do it fast enough he changed into a wolf on instinct and when I advanced upon him to attempt to keep the conversion going he tried to take a chunk out of my arm which was the cause of my yell. Thankfully his baby teeth are not too sharp yet so he did not cause too much damage and it’ll be fine in a minute.” 

For a few seconds, Siwon was silent as he found himself being handed the puppy Kris who looked bewildered and frightened and about to start a full on howling fit as he was in the hands of someone he did not know before a large dark grey wolf lightly bucked his head against the vampire’s hands before gently taking the tan coloured cub by the scruff of its neck and trotting off down the corridor. It had been a while since Kangin had been in wolf form around the vampire and it was something of a curious situation to see the alpha acting exactly like a parent should do but it also brought a smile to Siwon’s face. 

However, it quickly faded, “Is that the response you were looking to gain from Kyungsoo?” 

“Yes, though not as extreme,” Hangen replied softly as he sighed, “Whether he wants to admit it or not, Kyungsoo is a very strong willed young man and I stand by my original findings that he has not been corrupted by the books in any direct way. However,” he paused for a second to lift the bloodied handkerchief from his arm to check it, “I would advise that he be socialised as soon as possible with kindree his age as it will help him to form friendships and relationships that will hopefully push whatever seeds of lingering malignance out of his mind with all good will and purpose. But his anger and regret for not being able to save his sisters...”

Siwon nodded, “He saw too much and it cannot be reversed.” 

“Not entirely,” Hangen replied, “But if he learns how to manage it then he should be fine for the most part. Though keep an eye on him, reduce his stress and try not to expose him to too many dark subjects throughout the course of his studies.”

“I know, his current schooling is to make friends with Kris and record the process as one who has experienced something similar and to reflect on how his helping the other is helping himself,” Siwon replied with a fond smile, “I hope it sets him on the right path.” 

“I believe it will,” Hangen said, folding the handkerchief neatly so that he could put it away, “At least for all our sakes I hope it will.” 

The vampires turned together just in time to see the tip of Kangin’s grey fluffy tail disappear around the corner and opted to let the werewolf be as he typically knew just what was best to do in this situation. Especially with a frightened cub who was probably in a considerable amount of pain. Whilst Kangin knew little to nothing about Trion wolves, he could easily imagine that changing so suddenly would have been bound to hurt and he really did not want to be upsetting the cub in his jaws much further. Though Kris was fully in hurt tantrum pup mode and since he hadn’t quite yet become his son he was confused as to the scents that were being sent his way. 

Thankfully and rather unsurprisingly, a shimmering white wolf came eagerly trotting down the corridor that he was wandering down an instantly Kris stopped his wriggling and whining just to stare at her. Mentally Kangin smiled and placed the cub on the floor, who promptly flopped down with about as much grace as a new-born but neither one of the new parents could be honestly bothered to chide the youngster. 

Softly Leeteuk approached and nuzzled the cub, licking his fur and for a few seconds just being nicely patient as she was used to this sort of behaviour and knew exactly how to deal with it. Kris seemed to be just as bewildered and terrified as before but softly lifted his head in order to return a lick to her muzzle and then promptly began whining and fussing like he had been before. Leeteuk chuckled as she maneuverer herself into copying Kangin’s previous action of picking Kris up by the scruff of his neck, though noticeably the cub virtually relaxed immediately and whilst he occasionally whimpered it was at a manageable level that made one concerned rather than annoyed.

For a little while the wolf family trotted along the corridors together, passing rooms and libraries that seemed to be numerous and plenty though not half of them were filled these days. The Clan numbers had dropped with the panic over the books poison spreading and many had gone to seek their families with the attempt to bring them back but few had returned and those that did, tended not to remain around for very long. Kangin at first thought that Leeteuk was heading to the birthing room, where Kris could be surrounded by other young cubs but a strong scent of raging hormones told him that right now that was not a place to be going. The cub dangling from the alpha female’s mouth did twist his head in that direction but soon became focused again as they continued down.

Finally, they reached the room that Leeteuk had intended to go to all along and Kangin hopped nimbly up onto his back legs into order to open the door. Almost immediately there came two sounds of squeaky questions and then cries of joy as both Luhan and Kyungsoo rushed towards Leeteuk with voices crisscrossing in a mixture of words that made no sense. 

A sharp clap came from behind and the two boys stopped immediately, turning to face one of their babysitters, a tall blond haired vampire by the name of Megan who held herself proud and proper around all adults but turned into the biggest, most playful kid the second that they were gone. She tried to hide her smile as she chastised the two boys gently, “One at a time, don’t babble like that, it’s not grown up enough.” 

“Like you’re ever grown up,” a voice sassed towards Megan with an all too easy to spot accompanying grin that belonged to Divine, another of the personal maids come babysitters for the boys as she idly read through a book which was probably meant to be part of Kyungsoo’s homework at some point or other but the young kindree had been unable to focus on his work that night for understandable reasons. She was distinctive not only in style of speech but her fine colouring and striking black hair that twisted and knotted itself of its own accord into the most beautiful of styles. 

Leeteuk and Kangin ignored the pair and instead focused on convincing Kris that he had nothing more to be frightened of. Leeteuk laid herself down and allowed Kris down carefully onto the floor, where immediately he scurried to hide into her side and mewl pathetically. 

Kyungsoo looked shocked, “What did that man do to him?” 

“Nothing much,” Kangin said, gladly accepting a set of clothes from the last of the personal maids, a shape shifter by the name of Chia who appeared at this moment in time to be a tall sized girl with long brown hair and blue eyes but there were any number of different looks that she could wear so sometimes it was hard to tell. “In fact, Kris actually bit him so therefore passed the test.” 

Luhan opened his eyes wide, “Kris bit someone?” 

“He did not,” Kyungsoo said, a cheeky joy creeping into his voice as he turned to the still cowering wolf cub and reaching out automatically to pet him, “you bit that mean man? Well done you.” 

“Kyungsoo,” Kangin chided lightly, shaking his head but not really able to reprimand either one of the two boys because really Kris had done the right thing so he couldn’t be told off about it and Kyungsoo, well he was sort of right for praising the cub but not and it was far too complicated to explain. 

Not that either of the two boys noticed of course, Kyungsoo was desperately trying to coax Kris into his arms whilst Luhan watched carefully to see if there was even the remotest chance of it happening. Kris however still seemed to be in a full on pout and wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to the big alpha female so kept on burrowing deeper into her protective embrace with each new attempt to get him picked up for a hug. 

After realising that Kris wasn’t going to move from Leeteuk’s warmth the pair fell into silence as for a few moments, Kyungsoo and Luhan could only simply stare at the tiny form of Kris as the wolf cub continued to hide away in his mother’s paws. Finally, Luhan broke the silence that had descended, “What did the test make him do?” 

“We’ll never know,” Kangin cut in swiftly, glad the distraction had allowed him enough time to get fully dressed. Whilst most had absolutely no problem with werewolves wandering around naked, there was always just a little matter of pride when it came to being naked around children who were just too young to understand. The type that would make grabbing motions for anything that they could and once long ago a young cub had taken a mini bite out of an area that had not appreciated it in the slightest so Kangin always tried to remain as fully covered as he could do. 

Leeteuk had always found the story to be hilarious but right now her attention was fully focused on calming Kris down. 

“Why not?” Luhan asked, childish curiosity pipped as it would undoubtable be in this situation. Even though he had known Kris less than a few days, there was a clear attachment already formed between the pair and once Luhan liked someone, it took an awful lot for him to not care about them anymore. In fact, no one in the house could remember a time when the young vampire heir had ever not cared about anyone. He wore his heart on his sleeve in a beautifully innocent way and Kangin could only hope that it never got crushed because it would probably ruin the young gentleman in front of him. 

But back to the problem of answering this rather tricky question, something which the alpha really wished that he did not have to do as it would be a very complicated situation to even attempt. Kindree really were too inquisitive at times. 

However, Kyungsoo thankfully stepped in, “Because he won’t want to remember it Luhan.” 

The younger blond haired cousin turned his full attention to his dark haired elder, “He won’t?” 

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No. So he’ll try to forget it completely because it’s not a nice process. Hopefully you’ll never have to go through it.” 

The unspoken question hung in the air from the youngest member of the little grouping of vampires and Kyungsoo sighed before suddenly hitting on something. “Do you remember last winter when we accidentally smashed that vase and we tried to hide it at first, claiming that we knew nothing about it?” 

Luhan nodded slowly, looking highly regretful about that vase because it was apparently rather rare and expensive. Kyungsoo had to hide a smile as he continued to explain, “Well Kris will want to do the exact same thing until he feels strong and confident enough to talk about what happened in that room like when you finally decided to tell the truth because of the guilt that was eating away at you. Just for Kris, he’s got to face this fear and it’ll probably haunt him for a long while but we can help by being besides him and making sure that he is perfectly happy in every other aspect of his life. Don’t you think that’s for the best?” 

Pausing to think about it, Luhan adopted the look of one deep in thought which was so freaking adorable that even Kyungsoo wanted to grab both his cheeks and squeeze them in that annoying way that adults did whenever they found something just too irresistible. He refrained though, thinking of those actions as being nothing more than extremely girly behaviour and he wouldn’t be caught doing that sort of thing. Even if he had done it to his precious baby sisters on numerous occasions, but he quickly pushed any thoughts of them out of his head because he did not need to think of them right now. 

Finally, Luhan nodded and smiled brightly, “I know a way that’ll make him very happy.” 

Before he had even finished speaking the sentence the young kindree was up on his feet and running out of the door, Megan and Divine hot on his heels because the young heir wasn’t supposed to go unwatched. He was too valuable to the clan and if anything ever happened to him then there would be repercussions that would rival the horror of the damned books which had caused most of this mess. 

“You’re doing a very good job in protecting him, Kyungsoo,” Kangin said with a fond smile towards the youngster, “I’m sure that he’ll be thankful for that in the future.” 

Kyungsoo shook his head, “He’ll never learn about those books and what they do to people if I can help it.” The words were not of a child, they were of a youngster who had been forced to grow up way before his time and the hard set to his eyes almost sent a cold shudder down Kangin’s spine as he stared at the youngster. “Luhan is a child of purity and light, he should remain that way, completely untainted by the darkness and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that it never reaches him. Because they will come, they will try to take him and I will not stand by and allow it to happen.” 

Concerned vibes filtered off of Leeteuk in pure waves, as whilst Kyungsoo had given this sort of talk before this was the first time that either werewolf had heard it specifically directed at a single person. It was an understandable statement to make, especially after everything that Kyungsoo had gone through thanks to those horrendous books but there was an underlying menace to the words. A dangerous conviction which had to be quelled before it was allowed to blossom too much into a mind-set that would never be broken.   
Suddenly however, Kyungsoo let out a surprised little squeak of a noise and looked down to find none other than the puppy which Kris had become licking at his clenched hands. Blinking his dark eyes, Kyungsoo slowly released his fingers and allowed Kris to lick all the way up and down in what was probably a very sticky mess as he stared at the puppy in complete confusion. Though after a few moments, the kindree pulled his hands away from the puppy with a frown, “Stop it.” 

The white and tan coloured puppy looked up with jubilant smiles and a very happy wagging tail before part pouncing, part flopping onto Kyungsoo with a couple of playful yips. Kyungsoo frowned and pushed Kris away, “What are you...hey!” 

A bubble of laughter was drawn from the boy’s lips as the uncoordinated puppy leapt straight back at Kyungsoo and began to attempt to tumble about with him. It was floppy, completely unbalanced and the vampire had the clear advantage over the wolf cub who did not know entirely where to put which paw to best get the balance that would allow him to win but that wasn’t the point. Kris wasn’t trying to best Kyungsoo in the slightest, he was merely trying to make him happy again. Get him to play a silly little game of tumble that held no other purpose than simply being a little bit of fun that could distract them both from the horrors that they had witnessed and gone through together. It was impossible to tell just how much that the cub had understood of the conversation as Kris couldn’t yet communicate through the bond to his parents but the fact that he was taking on a role like this without having been asked was something that made Kangin’s heart glow with pride. 

And you thought that I wouldn’t take him on Leeteuk teased with a smug little grin, watching as the boy and the wolf continued to tumble about, though having to be gently shooed away from a table that held another distinctive vase on it by Chia who was sitting underneath it with ever watchful eyes. 

Kangin chuckled and reached out to affectionately rub his wife’s ears, I knew the second that you saw him you’d adopt him. I just never considered that he may be an alpha.  
Leeteuk hummed at the contact and shifted closer to her mate’s hands, we won’t know until he’s older but whatever Kris is, he is going to be a good strong boy. That much I can feel in my bones. He’ll protect these two as much as he can and I wouldn’t be surprised if he worms his way into the position of a bodyguard for our heir. 

About to reply, Kangin was cut off by the return of said heir who was carrying the almost too familiar wolf plushi’s that had been given to Kris on the first night that he had come into their home. Actually, now that Kangin thought about it, it felt like his son had been with them far longer than the few days that he had actually been with them and it was almost as if he had been born here. 

“Kris!” Luhan called, spotting the puppy finally managing to get the upper hand in the game of tumble and gnaw harmlessly at Kyungsoo’s hair, “Leave Kyungsoo alone!”   
A half growling whine escaped the puppy as he raised his head a little to acknowledge Luhan’s presence before going back to immediately giving Kyungsoo a tongue bath.   
“I don’t care if you’re playing!” Luhan said, trotting forward with the toys in his arms, “Look what I brought for you.” 

The wolf cub looked up again to see the young master of the house, comically with a piece of Kyungsoo’s jacket caught firmly in his mouth and for a few seconds the blue eyes stared quizzically at the younger vampire before letting out what could be best described as a bark of joy before haphazardly darting towards the figure with his plushi’s and pouncing on him. 

“Kris!” Divine panicked, rushing forward to try and get the wolf cub off of the heir only to stop a good few feet short when laughter came from Luhan instead. Kris was half lying on top of him, licking him feverishly in what could be best described as a cuddle and Kangin had to withhold the urge to laugh because he could practically hear the youngster yelling his thank you’s for the precious toys. 

Kyungsoo shook himself as he stood up with the help of Divine, “I’m all covered in drool now.” 

“Well then,” Divine said, prepared to take full advantage of the situation, “You have no excuse to not take a bath tonight.” 

“What? No!” Kyungsoo pouted in the most childlike manner that anyone had seen out of him for a long while, “It’s not bath night.” 

“Yes it is,” Megan said, striding forward to easily catch hold of the eldest kindree in the room with practiced grace that was extremely hard to avoid even as an adult, “In fact I believe that it is bath night for you, Luhan and Kris.” 

Kyungsoo looked quite frankly outraged by that statement and tried to wriggle out of Megan’s grasp, “That’s not fair. I had last night.” 

“You did not,” Megan said, easily tugging the youngster back, “You haven’t had a bath for the past five nights with all the excitement of your new friend arriving so don’t think you’ll be able to find an excuse to get out of this one.” 

There came a chuckle from behind Megan, “If you’re good and have a bath tonight, Kyungsoo, then when I next go to town I’ll buy each of you a packet of sweets from that store you like.” Divine smiled beautifully towards the young kindree, a very happy looking Luhan in her arms who was hugging onto the red wolf plushi that had been given to him by Kris to keep safe whilst said puppy knocked his other two plushi’s back and forth with excited sounds as he clearly had no idea what was about to happen to him. 

The stubborn kindree looked just about ready to bolt but a flying toy to his face distracted him into chasing Kris with a playful cry straight towards the bathroom where the maids were taking the boys regardless. 

Leeteuk chuckled as she returned to her human form in order to hug tightly onto her husband as they watched Chia slink out of the room and head in the opposite direction to where the group was going. Presumably to collect the boys sleeping clothes and avoid getting wet as she was in a black cat form currently. “Well, I think we can be sure that Luhan will have a guardian for life in Kris,” she said with a very fond smile on her lips. 

Kangin wrapped his arms around his wife, resting his hands lightly on her belly, “Oh really? What makes you think that?” he teased, already pretty sure she had picked up on the exact same thing he had but he always preferred to pretend he didn’t. 

The alpha female rolled her eyes, “Luhan understood what Kris said in wolf form, and we can’t even hear him yet through the pack bond yet.” 

Nodding, Kangin hid his smile in his wife’s shoulder, “Yep, Kris is at the very least a beta with just a possibility of being an alpha.” It would be very good for the pack if they already had a future alpha in their ranks but they would have to do some research because Kangin had never heard of a Trion being able to reach that high of a rank and there was no telling what Kris’s human side could do if the wolf tried to take over.


	7. Chapter 6 - Growing Pains

“Oh, so this is where you’ve been hiding?” Luhan asked softly as he rounded the corner of one of the larger libraries and found Kris lying spread out between two of the towering shelves that were filled with more books than any human would be able to read in a lifetime. The young Trion wolf turned his head towards the vampire heir and smiled softly as he carefully shifted himself into a sitting position to give at least a little space for the other to sit next to him. 

Lightly Kris nodded and accepted a small bundle of clothes from Luhan with a gracious nod, “I’ve not been hiding par say, this is just a good place for me to go through the change is all.” 

Luhan smiled as he settled himself down and allowed the other to dress himself. The change in Kris over the last year had been quite frankly astounding to the young vampire as gone was the weedy frail looking boy who could barely keep up in a game of tag to be replaced by a slightly stocky but it was called puppy fat youngster with a healthy looking tan to his skin, sparkling blue eyes and a mop of unruly black hair that could sometimes be tamed by the frantic pressing of his mother but generally it ended up just being a far bigger mess by the time he had gone running off to play with his friends. 

The human form was stronger, beginning to gain muscles and the old scars from his time with the village that was not to be talked about had finally began to fade as his werewolf healing balanced out. There was still a lot of unknowns about Kris, about how he would grow and age in comparison to other werewolf children as there was next to no research that could provide such an answer seeing as throughout the whole course of history the only Trion wolves of any great note had been turned when they were young adults and by default Kris was already far younger than them.

Still so far there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for anyone to worry about and Kris was pretty much an established member of the Clan as well as the pack. His naming ceremony had gone next to perfectly and after that night there appeared to be nothing stopping the boy from acting exactly like he should do. Excluding a natural shyness that made him very polite and straight talking when in the presence of those bigger than him, but Kangin had said that it would be something that would probably fade with time as he learnt how to be the kind of wolf that he was. There was still no clear indication of which classification he was liable to fall into, as Kris still practically dragged his favourite wolf plushi Ace around with him at all times even when in wolf form but the other day he had broken up a fight going on between two much larger betas’ without batting an eyelid and he played equally with the omega girls as much as he did with the beta boys when in wolf form. 

In fact, the only thing that anyone had been absolutely able to confirm about Kris was that he was indeed a Trion wolf as come what may, every full moon the boy would change and there was nothing that could coax him back to being a human. However, Leetuek had learnt from a fellow alpha female that this wasn’t as uncommon as they originally thought as many normal young werewolves went through the exact same routine until they were about six years old when they would learn the control needed naturally after their official naming ceremony. Given that Kris was still technically a puppy who didn’t know that his tail was attached to his body, it was perfectly natural that he should change during the full moon. 

What was more unusual was the fact that it hurt Kris to change between the two forms. Not a sharp pain par say but more of a throb that would not go away for hours and usually deprived him of sleep in both forms until everything was fully settled down. According to the doctors it was probably one of the downsides of his human nature, his body was still in the process of growing and therefore shifting back and forth between two separate forms was going to cause pain. Hence Kris had to go for regular check-ups to make sure that he did not develop any growth problems in his bones though so far everything had gone pretty well. 

Kris however liked to hide himself away when the change was on him, but after the first couple of panics over the sudden disappearance of the little boy or wolf cub it became accepted as the way that Kris dealt with the change. 

Unsurprisingly it was mainly Luhan who could be counted on to find the other, seeming to have a homing instinct on the little lost cub though no one was quite prepared to put into words just what that meant yet. 

Finishing tugging the shirt over his head, Kris winced a little as his elbow cracked a little too loudly but a quick stretch confirmed that it was just a build-up of lactic acid and nothing else. He felt Luhan’s piercing blue stare on him and smiled faintly, “I’m fine, just a crick in my arm is all.” 

“You sure?” Luhan asked, immediately poised to start fussing over the cub in front of him which brought about a soft chuckle from the other. 

Lightly Kris nodded and immediately flexed his arm to show that he was indeed perfectly fine with no lingering pain. It wasn’t that he didn’t like expressing his pain, it was more of a case of him not liking to see people distressed over him being in pain. He had caused more than enough of that over the last year that he had been here with his wonderful new family and he’d made a vow to become stronger and bigger so that he could return all of the love and affection they had given him by protecting them in turn.   
“Yup, I’m perfectly fine,” the wolf said as he stood up independently and thankfully did not lose his balance like he normally did when switching from four paws to two legs, “Well except for one thing.” 

“What?” Luhan said, springing to his feet clearly casting his eyes over every visible part of the boy in front of him to seek for any obvious signs of distress or injury.   
Kris couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m starving.” 

For a few seconds Luhan looked confused and then he rolled his eyes, giving the just slightly taller boy a push before latching onto his arm with a grin, “Come on then, I think Megan is preparing something extra today.” 

The trio of maids had fallen into an easy pattern with Kyungsoo, Luhan and Kris’s wolf times and after a quick consultation with a few calendars it had been easy to work out a schedule that fitted in with everyone and meant that Kyungsoo never missed out on anything as his lessons were taking up a majority of the time. Luhan was beginning to sit in on the lessons now, once a week, just in order to get him used to the idea and it was clear that the young vampire was very keen to learn. 

For Kris however, lessons currently consisted of playing with the other cubs and going through some basic early learning toys as despite his age in human years he had never attended a formal schooling system. He wasn’t thick or slow, he did have a basic grasp of written language and was a dab hand at numbers due to his former self having been a farm boy where knowing how many of what kind of animal you had and were expected to get in the coming spring was more important than being able to write complicated words out onto pieces of paper but it would all come with time. In fact, Leetuek had started moving him onto more complicated toys and started him off reading books that most cubs his age would be able to manage without trying but it was still early days. 

Kris was enjoying his lessons though and had a keen ear to listen to Kyungsoo and Luhan talk about their own. Whilst most of the content went straight over his head, he found it interesting to listen to them talk about the history that they were learning about, hearing how other words sounded in different languages and he had to be told more than once to stop completing Kyungsoo’s mathematics work. Though Kyungsoo always said that he just gave the cub copies of his old workbooks to muse over whenever he had finished them.   
In fact, as the pair arrived at the main dining room, which was fairly devoid of people as the night time was stretching thin due to the summer months, Kyungsoo was sitting with one of his mathematics books on the table with a half-finished bowl of porridge by his side. He was pouting heavily and sighed before looking up as the table shifted a little with the arrival of his two playmates. He smiled warmly at the pair, “So no longer a chewing puppy anymore, Kris?” 

The werewolf paled but set Ace down next to him on the chair as he liked to spoil the plushi toy whenever he could, “Oh no, what did I chew this time?” 

“Nothing too much of note,” Kyungsoo said carefully, keeping his voice as calm as possible as he took a sip from a very sweet tea that he was rather fond of and added an extra column to the equation that he was currently going through. “Though I advise that you keep away from Islington for a few hours, apparently you still have a rather claiming addiction to the bandages he just replaced.” 

Kris groaned and hid his face in his hands, “I don’t know why I keep doing that! They’re not even that tasty.” 

Kyungsoo burst into chuckles as he flicked the other on the forehead, “You’re just a little tearaway that likes to cause troubles. Plus, I don’t think Islington actually cares about those stupid bandages, however Lotte may be a bit upset about the shoes you went through.” 

“They were Mariana’s,” Kris said with a pouting huff, “Lotte deliberately gave them to me in order to chew them up but I was a good boy and took them back to Mariana. Then chewed a pair of Lotte’s.” 

Luhan shook his head as the first round of porridge complete with a drizzling of honey and a selection of Kris’s favourite dog biscuits crunched up into little pieces was placed in front of the little werewolf who immediately began to tuck into the food with high vigour. “Why do Mariana and Lotte have such a rivalry between one another?” he wondered aloud, swinging his legs back and forth as they didn’t quite reach the floor as of yet. 

“Because they’re girls,” Kyungsoo said in a dismissive manner, pushing a plate of specially made breakfast pastry’s that had jam in the middle and a coating of cream frosting sprinkled with little colourful sugar spots towards the two younger boys as he did not feel like eating them. “Just you wait until Taeyeon turns up, she’ll have those two rallied together in a matter of minutes.” 

Kris paused with his wooden spoon in his mouth and the slightest of head tilts towards the elder before attempting to talk around the spoon. Thankfully it didn’t last too long and the cub swallowed the porridge before asking again, “Whose’ Taeyeon?” 

“Oh the heir of the Nattstjärna clan,” Kyungsoo said dismissively, more keen on completing his homework. 

Looking competely bewildered, Kris turned to look at Luhan in the hopes of getting some kind of explaination but the younger kindree was currently in the process of munching his way through one of the sweet baked treats so couldn’t answer. However thankfully Divine was kind enough to smile his way as she took hold of the virtually emptied porridge bowl to place down a plate filled with scrambled eggs, chopped up sausages, bacon bits and chicken slithers which was part of Kris’s post wolf breakfast. 

”Whilst you were running around as a puppy, there was a calling of the clans,” Divine said lightly, petting the boys head, ”It’s a chance for all the heads of Clan’s to discuss important matters and for the clans to mix together.” 

”It’s like a Town Dance then?” Kris asked, blinking and having to use his only reference point, ”With a grand party and lots of games and decorations?” 

”Not quite like that,” Divine said, chuckling before spotting Chia moving swiftly in to grab Kyungsoo’s left over food and immediately attacking Luhan with a handkerchief as he had spilled crumbs down himself, ”Chia can probably explain it better to you.” 

The dark haired girl looked up in surprise before rolling her eyes, and grinned towards Kris, ”See it as a massive family gathering where everyone meets up, the adults talk about a bunch of boring adult stuff and you kiddies get to run around with all the other kiddies, making a big mess of everything and forming friendships and enermies for when you’re all big and old enough to talk about the boring adult stuff.” 

”That was the most unhelpful description ever,” Divine said towards the other maid, shaking her head. 

”There will be a dance though,” Kyungsoo cut in, shaking his head as he put a cross through his homework to start again, ”There usually is. But it gets organised by the adults so we’ll just be dragged into it at some point.”

”Kyungsoo doesn’t like dances,” Luhan said with just a cheeky tone to his voice, ”Cause he can’t dance.” 

”That is not true,” Kyungsoo shot back towards the other, ”I can dance, I just don’t really know all the steps.” 

He expected the laughter to come from Luhan and knew that the wolf would join in on principle but Kris seemed to think things through for a few seconds. ”What type of dancing is it that you do?” he asked after a short while. 

Kyungsoo looked at the wolf with curious eyes, ”Classical Ballroom mainly.” 

”Like Foxtrots, waltzes and the likes?” Kris replied, almost sounding hopeful which was surprising to everyone. 

”You know those dances?” Kyungsoo asked, staring at the other in shock. 

Kris nodded a little too enthusiastically, ”Yes. It wasn’t polite to refuse a girl a dance at the Festivals so I learnt them when I was young.” 

Divine smiled, ”I thought humans did not do that sort of thing?” 

”We did, only on special occassions though,” Kris said with a half smile that was slowly beginning to fall off his face, ”Everyone had to be able to dance because if you didn’t dance then you would never be able to grab the prettiest girl at the fate or the fair or at the Winter Gathering that the Town Lord used to hold every year. Cause no one wanted to dance with someone who couldn’t dance so I used to help my little sister practice and...” 

The sadness that rolled of Kris was almost intolerable for everyone standing or sitting around him, it was the first time that any of them could recall Kris talking about his human life in the slightest as it was a subject no one had really brought up. Excluding the occassional little details which were to help with his growth into the supernatural community. Tears pooled in Kris’s eyes as he found himself thinking back to his little sister, wondering if she was doing fine and if someone else had taken his place as her dance partner. Probably so, as she had been a very pretty young girl and would undoubtably grow into a stunning young woman who would be whisked away at the first available oppotunity to the palaces to become a ladies maid. 

Two hands latched onto his at the exact same time as two voices spoke at the same time, ”Teach me?” 

One was Luhan who was just being overly keen and eager with a certain level of cuteness whilst Kyungsoo had a edge of desperation because he knew that if he didn’t master dancing then there would probably be even more things that would plague him in his life. Plus Kris recognised the flash of pain in the others eyes, he knew that Kyungsoo had lost his little sisters as well and it was yet another connection point for the pair of them. 

Slowly he nodded, looking a little sheepish, ”Yes...I’ll teach you but I’m not the best at it.” 

”I bet you can dance better than Kyungsoo,” Megan said, appearing to shoo the other two into motion and place another plate of the sweet pastry treats onto the table, ”It’ll do you all good. Though you may want to try and finish your breakfasts first, young masters, there’s a long while until lunch.”

At the mention of there being no more food remaining, all three boys were quick to start eating whatever was placed in front of them. Even if Luhan and Kyungsoo had been long finished their morning breakfasts, the opportunity for more food always presented itself as something of a reason for male bonding and it was clear that the three young boys at the table were pretty much determined to eat everyone out of house and home. Not that many complained, growing Kindree and Cubs needed their strenght and it was a relief to finally see some of the stockpiles of food being to go down which was also a huge advantage. 

Surprisingly once they were finally finished eating everything but the table, the boys did not head to some quiet room in order to start practicing their dancing. In truly typical childish fashion the trio headed out into the back garden with the pure and simple task of playing. Even Kyungsoo seemed to be caught up in the youngsters little mindset at the moment and was quite happily running around playing games of tag, hide and seek and whatever else happened to take the boys fancy at any particular given moment without so much as a complaint. He even helped Luhan to climb up a tree so that he could win the game of tag that they were playing at one point but that ended up just a little on a moot point because Luhan got stuck in it and try as he might, Kyungsoo couldn’t get back up the tree to help him. 

It was as Kyungsoo had finally allowed Kris to find them that Siwon came upon the three boys and immediately a frown crossed his face, ”Is there any particular reason why my son is up a tree?” 

Kyungsoo immediately paled, trying to think how best to phrase the fact that he had accidentally gotten the young boy stuck up there as he was sure that his Uncle would not approve of such actions. It was not really proper of a young gentleman to cause his younger cousin to become lodged in a tree, especailly when they were outside and there was every last possibility that if they were not careful then they could be caught out in the sunlight but panic clogged Kyungsoo’s throat. He really did not want to get into any trouble right now, he just wanted things to be nice and quiet without any real upsets or hassle but it was proving to be a very tough road for him to tread down. No matter which road he took it always seemed to lead to yet another wrong turn and a gentle lecture on how he should set an example. 

”He thought that he had a really good hiding place but then he got...whoa!” there came a started explaination before there came a happy sounding thunk and Kyungsoo turned initally in horror to see Luhan sprawled out on top of Kris before being unable to do anything other than let out a peal of laughter at the misfortune of the pair. 

”Owww,” Kris complained, trying to push Luhan off of him but the little vampire was giggling like crazy as he clung onto the werewolf, ”Luhan! I can’t breath! You’re not supposed to squeeze me to death.” 

”Am not!” Luhan said, actually fully aware that he was doing that exact thing and squeezing him just a little bit tighter around the middle, ”I’m giving you a squish! There’s a big difference.” 

Siwon started to laugh as well as he stared at the two boys, who due to their rather misfortunate tangle with the tree were now covered in bits of bark, twigs and leaf. Actually looking at all three of the boys, it was very clear that they had been playing long and hard throughout the hours of the night and they had grass stains on their clothes, mud in their hair and who knew what else strewned about their persons. Oh how the elder vampire wished that he could go back to those simple days when the only worries he had revolved around which game to play next or if the weather was going to stay good long enough so that he and his friends could stay outside longer. 

In his earstwhile musings on his time as a kindree, Kris and Luhan had continued to squabble playfully on about the difference between a squish – some kind of hug Siwon presumed – and a squeeze of death but Kyungsoo was still looking on the pale side, wringing his hands back and forth around each other in a sign of nervous detactment. Letting out a gentle sigh of his own, Siwon reached across to gently pet the top of the younger man’s hair and smiled, ”Childrens games are the best to learn through, Kyungsoo, you probably got stuck up your own trees more than enough times.” 

Before Kyungsoo could even fully open his mouth to begin a reply, Luhan had latched himself onto the front of the other and sent him tumbling down to the ground with a cry that was more a noise than an actual sentence and within a few seconds the two tumbling boys became three. Siwon shook his head as he watched them roll about in a battle that had no point in the slightest and as much as he hated to break up the fun that the trio were having he knew that they were going to have to get themselves ready for the first arriving guests becuase greeting them in grass stained clothes was certainly not going to create a good impression on anyone. 

Swiftly Siwon shot his hands into the tumbling three and made a grab for Luhan, ”Ha! I’ve got the little prince,” it seemed to fit in with the crazy game that the three had been playing before and plus it gave him a chance to hoist the boy high above his head in a hold that was safe, secure and well out of grabbing range of the two other boys, ”You’ve got to catch me in order to get him back.”

Taking off, the Clan Leader knew that he probably looked completely silly right now, as any vampire would look carrying one happily squealing child and being chased by two others but sometimes it was nice to just be able to play with the kindree and the cubs. An escape from the torturers of being an adult as some would say. Plus there was an actual point to this whole exercise which was to get all three back into the house and into the bathroom where they could be captured by the maids for their baths and a change of clothes. 

Leetuek did raise a slight eyebrow at him as he passed but she simple smiled and waved him along, ”Better you than me. You’re going to regret your choice by the end of this Siwon.” 

The Clan Leader did not even hear the words, laughing along with the trio and just enjoying the moment to be silly. There probably wouldn’t be many more like this for a long while and Siwon was going to take it whilst he could.


	8. Chapter 7 The Shadow Knights

The board that stretched out in front of the tall man with almost impossibly pale skin and deep sunken eyes that still managed to hold an ethereal beauty about them, appeared to glisten in the light from the candles that were scattered around the alter that had been carved from the darkest onyx stone to stand in front of the equally powerful and beautiful carved statue representing Thesia, the long forgotten daughter of the night who rightfully belonged in the most powerful position of Goddess of the Night and of all Vampires.  
Or at least, that was what the scriptures said and Jiyong so no reason to question them in the slightest. He had been a follower of Thesia since the day that he had been birthed into the world and could only feel pity towards those who were not as enlightened as he was. The vampire who stood staring up with a loving gaze towards the cold statue of his Goddess was more than just a simple follower, he had worked his way through the ranks to becoming one of the most respected Priests in the entire movement of the Shadow Knights and his path to reaching such a position was said to be the one that was filled with the most blood of the none believers who did not please his Goddess.

Jiyong was enchanting in a way unlike many others, he looked to be pale, sickly and always just a step away from greeting the grim reaper in a pleasant manner but there was a burning fire behind his dark eyes that spoke of a life long lived that was not going to be snuffed out anytime soon. His hair was long and the lightest possible shade of blond without actually falling into the realms of white or silver and tonight he wore a long robe of blood red that trailed down to the floor and extended down with long sleeves that tapered down in elegant triangles. Glistening at his neck was a golden necklace, thin of chain but set with a pendant that appeared to be that of a series of ten interlocking circles that formed a spiral with the head and tail of a serpent finishing it off. No extra details were needed, no exquisite jewels or slithers of silver to make the gold impure because Thesia was a simple Goddess who wanted nothing more than to have the world as beautiful and simplistic as she was.

A polite knock to the door interrupted Jiyong’s silent prayers but he smiled softly as he turned away after a prolonged bow towards the statue to call, “Enter.”

His voice was like honey, aged well in the pantry and tasting so delicious that the decaying void it would make within one’s stomach would be next to impossible to remember for a short while. The doors to the chamber opened, allowing more light to spill into the darkness and candles to flicker into life to bathe the room in a gentle orange glow. The furnishings were few and far between here, nothing more than the black alter and the candle holders at first to the naked eye but this was not a room where people would come to pray and Jiyong felt his smile grow as two blinded werewolf servants pulled a faired haired towns girl towards the center of the room whilst a further two Frey stepped away from the walls that they had embedded themselves in with chains which were quickly attached to the woman’s ankles, wrists and neck before being pulled tight so that she remained upright with all of her limbs spread.

Jiyong was glad to see that she did not try to resist or make pleading mewls for her life, the girl was indeed pretty and would surely be a loss to someone but her innocence was perfect for the ritual that was to be performed tonight. The girl couldn’t have been more than fourteen at best but was wearing the white dress of marriage and it was probable that she had already become a woman. Her eyes held nothing but a vacant look in them, the washed out green suggesting that was one time she had been a vibrant little butterfly whilst her brown hair was soft to the touch. Stepping towards the girl, Jiyong smiled warmly towards her, “You are a very fortunate innocent, young one, the great Thesia has chosen you for a task that shall make you a beautiful immortal handmaiden by her side for all of time when she rightfully returns to the world to claim it back from the viler versions of your kind who seek to do nothing more than spoil all of that which was beautiful which she made.”

No words came from the young woman, she just stared at him with an expression that spoke of fear and sadness and he realised that maybe one of her family had been used before. It was an unusual gift for the humans to produce two who could be used like this and Jiyong nodded his head, “You have younger siblings, don’t you? You fear that with your passing they will become lost and alone. I promise you now, as Thesia’s faithful servant that they shall be highly rewarded for your actions and they will live long, healthy lives in the uttermost luxury.”

Tears slipped from the dark eyes, the lips beginning to move as if to speak some kind of words but Jiyong placed his fingers lightly on her lips, “No need to thank me, my dearest, we shall begin now and paradise will belong to you and all of your siblings.”

Grabbing the fabric of white material, Jiyong tore the dress off the girl with a simple and single movement so that she stood naked and pure before the statue. “Great Thesia, I present to you a perfectly innocent soul so that you may make your will known to us this very night. Come, great Goddess, come to this room and speak only the truest of words.”  
A golden bladed knife sliced cleanly through the girl’s throat, stopping the scream of terror which wanted to escape before it could even begin to form a single note and the rich blood trickled down the smooth skin to drip onto the floor at the girl’s feet.

Within seconds the rest of the vital pressure points had been stuck with the golden bladed knife in order to cause the blood to flow quicker from the sacrifice and Jiyong gently ran his fingers over the fine dead face. “You will indeed be a beautiful handmaiden in the next life you possess, may your slumber be swift and your return just as stunning as that of our great Goddess.”

With a final spin of the blade, it was embedded directly in the forehead of the now completely lifeless body and Jiyong turned with an elegantly sweeping bow towards a figure who was now standing on the clean golden floor. Naturally it was made out of the spilled blood and the messenger of Thesia took on a female form, being tall and slender with hair that flowed down towards the floor and pure white burning eyes that seared straight into the soul. Jiyong almost smiled joyfully as being granted such an audience but he knew better than that and therefore kept his gaze low. “Thank you dearest pearl from our mother night,” his spoke in regal tones as if addressing someone of royalty, “I have no doubt that you will already know what it is that I will ask but tradition states that I must.”

Turning his dark gaze upon the woman again, just able to stare at those haunting eyes without flinching after years of unwaveringly loyal servitude, Jiyong felt a fluttering of excitement though he tried to contain it. “There have been rumours from the Oracles that Thesia’s physical form has been born into the world. That the kindree has survived their years despite everything that has been thrown their way and that soon their power will begin to manifest. Is this true?”

For a few seconds the figure made of blood was still, seeming to contemplate the words that had been spoken before releasing a single nod towards the Priest. Jiyong let out a gasp of surprise, almost closing his eyes in euphoria at the idea but he managed to contain his joy and elation because he knew that time would be growing short. “Can you show me where they are and how we may get to them before they are corrupted to the forces that we do not wish them to turn to?”

The figure began to shake her head before pausing and slightly tilting it as if she were receiving some kind of message before the white eyes fixed Jiyong with a firm stare and words formed in his head that were not spoken but echoed back as if coming from a deep cavern that all had forgotten. Thy path to the Child shall be easy but Nyx has already interfered and sent her guardian. Choose wisely where they shall be brought and do not allow the night to consume them.

With a grumbling roar the bloodied figure swooped up into the vast heights of the tall building, swooping around the ornate rafters in a series of swift movements that were almost impossible to follow and to the uninitiated it would appear that something terrible was happening. That a great battled was going on with the figure as she swung from left to right, slammed into the beams to break into smaller fragments so that instead of being one she was two versions of herself, then three and finally a fourth with a splatter that sent over half of the blood to the floor, covering the still hanging body and the priest who lingered below though he did not flinch in the slightest. The four moving segments continued their crazy movements throughout the rafters, clattering off the hidden icons to cause sparks to go flying and swirling in and around one another in an intricate dance. Jiyong watched with mouth agape as he had never personally been witnessed to a vision of the future being predicted in such a manner and it was enthralling and so wondrously special that he had no real way to express the feelings that were lingering in what could have best been described as his heart.

With a final dramatic wail, the four remaining orbs of blood crashed down towards the floor before at the last second splitting into eight with four crashing down into the floor and another four moving to the board that had been set up before. Jiyong ignored the decoration for now, instead staring at the four large blobs on the floor which had formed themselves into perfect circles. The one farthest away from him began to form a figure and within seconds the priest had thrown himself down to his knees with a cry of praise as he saw a young vampire lady with soft porcelain features, beautiful silk hair and eyes that almost sparkled with power even when made out of blood and her aura was one of power and control that would ensnare millions to her cause without even trying. However, as she rose her hands up in greeting or prayer, her expression changed to one of despair and ill contempt and she shook her head before covering her face with her hands and appearing to wail.

Jiyong could not comprehend the meaning but before he could even begin to think about raising and moving towards the beautiful reincarnation of his Goddess, two other bloodied figures moved to embrace the girl and hold her in such a way that spoke of nothing but love, kindness and understanding. The first was a vampire, tall and proud with a stern face brought on by years of hard work and debate but there was a fire burning in those eyes that spoke of pride, strength and a hidden grief for something that had long ago happened but would never be repeated again. The second figure was tall, taller than Jiyong by a good foot and built for strength and protection. A werewolf who was scarred from many years of long battles and turmoil’s that had somehow not broken his resolve and desire to protect what was his. This figure embraced both the vampires, protecting them equally whilst giving love, affection and an unhealthy too familiar connection to the whole scene.

Though the man’s head raised suddenly, jaw set in a displeased frown and hard eyes staring warningly ahead as the grip increased marginally on the pair and Jiyong turned his head to blink in amazement towards a vampire who was tall, devilishly handsome and held the air of authority that only came from a few specially selected men within their order. The was clearly a Shadow Knight, one destined to protect the Goddess Thesia and make sure that her power was spread throughout the world. He was a man who could ensnare the world, make the puny humans bow down to their true Goddess and many would be foolhardy enough to believe that they could beat him.

The man was chiselled, toned from years of hard labour and toil and oozed and aura of power, control and distain for everything that was not of their order. A true knight that would gain the uttermost respect and was probably the commander that they had been predicted to receive for the future war against the villainess Nyx and her corrupted followers.

The images suddenly lost their forms and splattered to the ground as nothing more than congealed blood that was unusable and certainly not to be drank by anyone but a condemned man. Jiyong rose and headed back to the board to see if any other messages had been left only to find himself looking at three perfectly formed marble figures. Out of instinct and an increasing need for everything to be in full order and tidy, Jiyong checked for any signs of the forth figure but was dismayed that he could not find her anywhere. Though he gave himself a moment to pause and consider the fact that the reincarnation of the goddess had been considerably younger than the two whom had embraced her so maybe she had not quite arrived into the world. Or there was someone who had to arrive first for her to arrive into the world.

Stopping himself pouting, the priest turned his attention back to the board and the three figurines. The first was of a young kindree, already tall with fine clothes and carrying a book in his arms to suggest that he was beginning to learn about his role in the world. His marble was a dark grey and it was laced with red ruby lines that made Jiyong smile as clearly he was the Shadow Knight that would be guarding the one who would be pivotal in the rebirth of their Goddess. Unsurprisingly next to him was a smaller figure, created out of pure white marble that shone with its own light of innocence and grace. This figure was smaller, younger than the first by a considerable amount and seemed to still be at the innocent stage of their young Kindree life. The perfect time to bring him into their realm and teach him everything that he would need to know.

A Goddess could only be born from a pure Prince and this boy was clearly going to be that most esteemed of a man.

Jiyong nearly forgot about the third figure on the board and was just about to reach out to take the first two away to show the other priests so they could begin tracking down the two boys when a spark shot through his left hand that reminded him of a bite of a little reptile which he had received many hundreds of years ago. He turned to the final figure, done in black marble flecked with white so that it stood out from the two that lingered. The details showed a thin figure, one who had not quite yet managed to start to grow into his body but the wolf ears and tail suggested that he was not human nor werewolf. A shudder when down Jiyong’s back, a half wolf would not be able to survive as long as this one or if it did then it would be much older looking by now which left only one possible conclusion that the man could draw. A Trion, a filthy human who had been turned to their side.

The Order looked down on those abominations with the most distain because they were not of either world and were corrupted by whatever way they found themselves surviving. They thought differently, were unpredictable and always had consideration for the useless humans. They never lost that connection, no matter how long they lived within the supernatural world but that wasn’t too much of a problem to deal with. The main problem with Trion Wolves was that they were inevitably linked directly to the traitor Nyx as she liked to interfere with Thesia’s plots and plans whenever she could.

This one however looked to be extremely young and was probably not bound yet, which was a good thing as it meant that he could be dealt with. Sneering at the figure, Jiyong went once again to take the two that he wanted and felt the exact same jolt of pain from the third. “You are already a useless pest indeed,” Jiyong cursed, grabbing hold of a piece of cloth to throw over the black figure and then picking up all three together. There was a lingering sensation of discomfort but nothing that Jiyong couldn’t put up with and he headed back across the room, snapping his fingers so that the chains crumbled away and the girl’s body crashed into the floor with a sickening crunch that echoed dully back before the doors to the room slammed closed with an echoing hollowness to the sound that allowed the lingering malice to surface and dive straight for the newly presented flesh to scrape it straight clean off the bones and leave nothing but a dried out skeleton behind.

~

Luhan woke up screaming in pure terror, his cries and tears more than enough to jolt the few bedrooms next to him into awakening despite the vampiric slumber that was more akin to death than anything else. His screams were loud, piercing and filled with nothing but fright and terror of which he could not escape from in the slightest. Huge fat tears rolled down from his eyes, staining the bedclothes below him and only adding to his sense of complete and total confusion. He had no idea what the dream had been about anymore, only that it scared him beyond anything that he had ever bore witness to before and in his infantile state the only thing that he could honestly do in order to keep himself from going insane was to scream, cry and make a great big fuss over everything that had just played out before his very eyes.

The door to his room opened with a light click before closing and in fear Luhan turned his large, watery blue eyes towards it, fearing that it may be the man who was doing terrible things coming to take him away but instead let out another sob and made childishly grabby hands towards his elder cousin who was looking at him with confusion and a high amount of concern. Without pausing, Kyungsoo moved quickly to scoop the younger into a hug, gently pressing his lips to the top of the youngster’s head and rocked him back and forth. “There there, what’s the matter Luhan?” Kyungsoo asked unhelpfully because he had never known his cousin to be plagued by day terrors. It was something that had never happened according to everyone he had spoken to so this was certainly something unusual.

Luhan however could only shake his head, too upset to even speak and clung onto the silk pyjamas that his elder cousin was wearing tightly. His whole body was shaking and the sobs would not stop no matter what words Kyungsoo would offer to the distressed boy because he was one hundred per cent sure that if he closed his eyes and returned to sleep then there would be nothing to stop that man from rearing up again and trying to claim him. Luhan had no way to express just how he knew that the man was coming for him, the little kindree couldn’t even express what was going on in the dreams to his big cousin and it made him feel inadequate and useless beyond anything he had ever felt before because he was supposed to be a big boy and able to deal with this sort of stuff.

But Luhan sometimes forgot that realistically he was still only eight years old and the world was still a very big, very frightening place to one who did not know it outside of the family home.

After a while there was another click from the door and this time Divine entered though she looked as though she had just been very rudely woken up by something and her mouth opened in surprise at seeing the distressed state that Luhan was in.

Before either the kindree or the frey could manage to speak a word to one another, there came a half muffled playful bark and Divine was pushed aside by a small ball of light tan coloured fur carrying what appeared to be a rather soggy looking toy in his mouth.

Kris padded boldly over to the bed and failed to jump on it three times much to Kyungsoo’s amusement before he finally reached across to grab hold of the scruff of the pup’s neck and haul him onto the bed. “Honestly, can’t even jump onto a… hey!” Kyungsoo spluttered and Kris landed both his paws on the boy’s shoulders and slathered him in wet kisses.

There came a half giggle from Luhan which directed Kris’s attention straight onto himself and within seconds the kindree was pounced upon, receiving the exact same treatment with the werewolf’s tongue but the tears of panic began to dry up and after a few more minutes, Luhan was looking a whole lot more relaxed with being able to pet Kris who had flopped onto his stomach and was lightly chewing on Ace, his favourite wolf toy companion. Kyungsoo smiled and ran his hand through his cousin’s hair, “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes,” Luhan said shyly, nodding his head and looking up apologetically, “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo smiled back, ruffling the boy’s hair a little bit, “You know I’m always here for you when things get too rough and scary right?”

The younger kindree nodded before letting out a yawn that was turned into a giggling yelp as Kris took hold of the back of his green silk pyjamas and tugged the boy back up onto his pillows before grumbling and nosing at Kyungsoo to do the exact same thing. It was amusing to see the pup literally trying to get the blankets tugged over the pair of them and he was eventually helped out by Divine who picked the pup up, placed him on the floor, covered the virtually asleep pair with the blanket and gave them a good day kiss before turning to leave the room.

Only to be met by a determined glare from the puppy and Divine placed her hands on her hip for a second before sighing, “Fine, but for tonight only.”

Bending down she picked up Kris, received a series of licks as a reward before depositing the puppy back onto the bed where he promptly half tumbled around, grabbing his toy and then padded to lie down comfortably behind Luhan who was already fast asleep in Kyungsoo’s protective embrace. Divine couldn’t help but smile at the cute scene before nodding her head towards Kris and pulling the curtains around the three boys to keep them in the relative safety of darkness before heading back to her own rooms. She was only a little disappointed to not see Siwon lingering around the door but figured that maybe he had his own troubles to deal with that night. She could only hope that it wouldn’t lead to him having nightmares as well.


	9. Chapter 8 Old friends, rivals and new arrivals

Opening the door as quietly as he could, Kris was relieved to find both of his charges fast asleep in their bed where he had left them only half an hour earlier with no signs of distress or disturbed sleep. The young werewolf was very glad of this fact as he had feared that without his presence then Luhan would end up waking the whole floor up with another screaming fit. The last week had been almost painful as every other day the young kindree had woken up screaming and then refused to go back to sleep. 

What was more frustrating was the fact that he refused point blank to share the contents of his daymares with anyone and it was becoming a fairly common sight to see the young, usually happy-go-lucky heir hiding himself away in the tightest of corners so that he would not be found. By what was a mystery to everyone but thankfully both Kyungsoo and Kris had taken it upon themselves to look after Luhan and for that everyone was thankful. 

The only problem was that Kyungsoo was trying to stay awake during the day as well which was causing the elder kindree to quickly become exhausted and inattentive at classes and other such affairs. He was snappy, grouchy, couldn’t be bothered with anyone and had taken a swipe towards Kris last night which had not been in fun. Kris however did not blanch or lash back at the other, instead he plotted a way to get Kyungsoo to drink a full cup of a very milky brew which his human mother had made him on rough nights when he could not sleep and thankfully it had worked.

Granted the kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it and the cooks were not overly happy with Kris which was why he had been forced away for half an hour but now that he knew that the drink had worked it was worth getting a scolding. He’d have to give the recipe to the cooks but for now he was just glad to get back to his charges. 

He had just made his way across to make sure that the pair was suitably covered in their blankets when the door to the room opened a little further and Kris smiled sheepishly towards his father, Kangin who gave him a raised eyebrow, “Apparently you made a mess in the kitchen?” 

“Yes, but for a good reason,” Kris replied honestly looking towards the two sleeping kindree in the bed, “Kyungsoo got a whole days sleep and I’ll try to give some to Luhan later so he can sleep but he hasn’t awoken as of yet so I’m guessing the phase has passed.” 

Kangin had to hide his smirk at the very grown up way of speaking his son had, “You did explain this to the cooks right?” 

Kris nodded, “Yes and I promised to ask for help in future. The main thing I did wrong was let the milk boil over and then I forgot to clean it up cause the puppies came in and attacked the flour bags but I think it’s cause they wanted me to play with them.” 

Shaking his head, Kangin strove across the room to scoop the youngster up into a high flung hug which had Kris laughing brightly before attempting to wriggle away as he was smothered in big slobbery kisses, “Gah! Stoppit! I just got told off!” 

“Ha, you’re an alpha in the making my boy,” Kangin said, dropping the youngster to the floor, “But you’ve got to remember to play and have some fun too you know.”   
Kris picked himself up and launched a pathetic tackle towards the much taller werewolf with a grin on his features, “I do! But if you keep on making noise you’re going to wake up the babies and that’ll be bad.” 

“You did not just call me a baby,” Kyungsoo deadpanned in a semi-huffy voice as he sat up in bed, rubbing at his eyes to clear the sleep but anyone could see that he looked a million times better for getting a full day’s sleep, “You’re the baby Kris.”

Rolling his eyes skyward, Kangin allowed his adopted son to tackle his friend on the bed as the pair began to roughhouse and instead moved to the still slumbering figure of Luhan who appeared to be actually peacefully asleep right now which was a wonderful situation to see. Gently he ran his fingers through the light blond hair and just managed to stop himself jumping in surprise when the blue eyes open suddenly to blink in question. “Good evening, young master,” Kangin said with a soft smile, “Did you sleep well?”   
“Yes,” Luhan said with a cute little yawn as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes with his fists before turning to look at his cousin and friend who were rolling about on the floor making an absolute fuss. The little vampire blinked a couple of times, “What was in that drink last night, Kris?”

“Huh?” the young werewolf just managed to reply before being knocked to the floor by Kyungsoo and he was about to retaliate with more pushing of his own when there came a polite knock at the door. Megan was standing there with folded towels over her arms and a few toiletries carefully arranged in a bucket. 

“Forgive the intrusion, young masters, but it is high time we got you up and dressed,” she said in a polite manner, “We are going to be greeting our first set of guests today.”   
Kyungsoo let out a groan and let go of Kris, pouting a little, “In other words, the other kindree and children are arriving and Uncle wants us to look our best.” 

Kris blinked innocently at him, still partially pinned to the floor, “What’s wrong with that?” 

“You’ll see when you meet them,” Kyungsoo huffed but got up anyway to take hold of Luhan’s hand, “Come on, we best get sorted. I’m sure the scruffy puppy will get hounded by his mother in a minute.” 

A laugh that had not been heard for a week bounced around the room as Luhan found himself making a quick exit with Kyungsoo who was dragging him along as fast as he possibly could do to get away from the slightly enraged Kris. Neither had any worries of getting caught though as Kangin had grabbed hold of the back of his son’s top before bundling him up onto his shoulders to carry him up a height, “They’re right. Leeteuk wants you bathed and dressed smartly for the visitors so come on, scruffy puppy!” 

Kris’s playful complaints could be heard all the way down the corridor but no one complained about it in the slightest. On the contrary it was a pleasant relief getting to hear something other than the harrowing silence which had been left in the wake of Luhan’s daymares phase. 

~*~

The coach rattled along the just about conceal cobbles that lead up to the main house and Xiumin let out a sigh as he finally lifted his nose out of the book that he had been reading to see his little sister perched on one of the leather bound seats with her nose almost pressed up against the window so that she could stare in wonder towards the approaching Manor House where they would be staying. He wasn’t sighing out of frustration towards the younger girl, he like any big brother adored his little sister beyond anything else in the world even though he would never voice it. He was sighing because even though she had been told not to stare out of the window like some common street urchin here she was doing the exactly that. 

“Yuri,” he chided lightly, pulling on one of her hair ribbons to make her pay attention, “Sit like a proper lady will you.” 

A pout was sent his way but the girl followed his lead regardless and sat exactly how she was supposed to. There was no denying the fact that the Kim siblings were indeed brother and sister, they both had the same black hair, matching tone of pale colouring to their skin and prominent cheek bones which suggested that in the future they would have strong striking features. Their only main difference came from the fact that Yuri had her father’s dark brown eyes whereas Xiumin had inherited his mother’s ice green eyes, along with her powers as well. Though he was still only just at the stage of beginning to acknowledge this fact and couldn’t do much with his elemental control. 

“You’re always so boring,” Yuri stated plainly towards her brother, “Aren’t you excited to meet everyone else?” 

“Not particularly,” Xiumin stated with a nonchalance that was typical for him as many had described his character as being rather cold, “It’ll just be a bother as usual.” 

Unable to hold back a chuckle, Yuri shook her head, “You can lie to everyone but me, my dearest big brother. I know you cannot wait to see a few of your close friends to demand to know the reason why they have not responded to your letters as of late.” 

Xiumin did not respond to that comment for the simple reason that he honestly did not have much of an answer for it. He was certainly going to tackle his two friends about why they had not responded to his letters and they had better have a very good reason for it. He did not voice any concerns over how his little sister knew this fact, it was something that she had always done and for the most part it was nothing sinister so he just left it. There was part of him that thought just maybe there was something extra special about the girl’s apparent ability to know everything that was going on but for now he left it at that small factor and settled back into reading his book. They had about another twenty minutes of travelling if the snow wasn’t too deep and he at least wanted to have this chapter finished so that his tutors could have a few days off as he was ahead of his prescribed schedule. 

He didn’t really want to mention the fact that this particular book he had actually read about ten years ago during an extended winter break but he was actually enjoying rereading it so for now he was happy to indulge in the story and the characters. After five minutes however, he let out a slight yelp of surprise when Yuri practically clambered over his lap to stare out of the window on his side of the carriage with a happy sounding call, “Look! The others are arriving here too!” 

Childish instinct made Xiumin want to desperate push his sister off his lap but he knew that would only get him into trouble because her dress would be ruined and that would not be a good thing at all. Instead he pouted towards her, “Yuri!” 

“But look!” she said, now rudely pointing out of the window, “Our friends!” 

With a grimace that he wasn’t quite able to hide, Xiumin glanced out of the window that his sister was pointing towards and had to force the smile to not come to his face. There were several other coaches all of different sizes and models and he could already see a couple of excitedly waving hands and just catch the joyful calls as kindree and children alike spotted each other. Xiumin was particularly glad to spot one circular face that was currently in the process of making rude faces towards him despite the protests of his mother and he couldn’t help but burst into a fit of giggles. They hadn’t even managed to officially meet up yet and already Tao was causing trouble. This was sure to be a very interesting affair indeed. 

Yuri smiled up towards her big brother and grabbed his book to snap it closed before placing it away into the bag that was by their feet. “There, now you have no excuse to ignore anyone else.” 

Xiumin gave his sister a look which clearly called her an idiot but he did not voice it aloud just in case his father heard and told him off later for it. Not that he could honestly imagine that, given that his father was travelling in a different coach in order to keep an eye on the special guest whom was accompanying them and his attention was fully taken with that particular individual. Naturally this had made both the Kim Kindree curious but they were told rather firmly to keep away and not to cause any form of trouble. Xiumin was sure that he it wouldn’t be hard to figure out what was going on and at worst case scenario he could potentially ask Kyungsoo seeing as he would be reaching the age where he may be permitted to be involved with meetings that were considered too much for the young male vampire despite the fact that on many an occasion he had been told that he was mature beyond his years. 

About to come back with a witty retort to his sister for being an obnoxious brat, Xiumin was slightly startled as the carriage came to a stop and one of the footmen stepped up to announce their arrival. The elder brother only had a moment to quickly grab hold of his highly excited younger sister who nearly went charging straight out of the door and he pulled her into a fine white mink coat with matching hat and gloves. The coldness did not affect either of them particularly but they were still young enough that it wouldn’t be too hard for either of them to catch a cold or worse so it was always best to dress warmly. Plus, it would confuse any human hunters who were out for mischief or mayhem.   
Yuri pouted for all of a second before grabbing Xiumin’s hand and tearing out of the coach to rush around the long legs of the tall members of her family and clan as well as the others who were all arriving at roughly the same time. Xiumin would have complained about the rough treatment if not for the fact that a snowball smacked him straight in the face. 

“Ha! One to me!” a way too gleeful voice called from not too far away and the green eyed kindree turned to glare at a younger by twenty years’ boy who had a bright round face, light brown hair that was currently styled short and a relaxed winter style that looked more like he was dressed for a breeze autumn afternoon than anything else. Tao Haung was a bundle of constant energy and with a matching bright smile and eyes that glimmered with mischief constantly it was hard not to get infected by it. “Bet I can get you again to!” he yelled in challenge towards the other, a confident smirk on his lips.

“No way are you going to get me again, Tao,” Xiumin shot straight back having already formed a snowball in his hands which he prepared to throw straight towards the other but was stopped by a firm hand. Glancing up, Xiumin nearly gulped in shock at finding his father towering above him with a look that reprimanded but did not quite fully tell off which was something better than what he had expected. 

“Play later,” Jinsoo Kim said softly, “Do your greetings first and help everyone bring in their things.” 

Before Xiumin could even complain, Tao had shot forward, grabbed hold of the others hand and whisked him off with a speed that was confusing to the lone father who blinked in surprise. Jinsoo glanced around in search of his daughter only to let out a slight sound of surprise when he realised that the girl was not beside him like she should be but a deep resounding chuckle brought him back to his senses. 

“They’re too young and innocent to be bogged down with all this boring adultness,” the owner of the deep laugh, a Rain Weylin who was part of the Augustine Clan and was a skin changer who looked almost as bear like in his human form as he did when he was a bear, smiled and landed a heavy hand onto Jinsoo’s shoulder, “Let them play, who knows when they’ll get the chance to do so properly again.” 

“Plus here they are safe,” Amber Julianne, a werewolf from the southern Europe countries said as she passed by, “the barriers are set good and strong. Anyone attempting to attack now would have to face over ten clans and those odds are not favourable.” 

Nodding Jinsoo agreed but still cast his eyes about for his two wayward children, briefly catching a glimpse of Xiumin as he hurried up the front steps with Tao and smiling as he saw Yuri embracing Taeyon. 

Pulling back, the stunning blond haired Taeyon pinched and squeezed at Yuri’s cheeks, “I swear that you just get cuter each and every time that I see you.” 

“Your memory is just playing tricks on you, Taeyon,” Yuri smiled brightly, shaking her head, “you’re the one who looks better each time.” 

The girl shook her head, “Oh let’s not get into that argument right now, we have so much to catch up on and actually I have a few more friends to introduce you to. Come on, you grab some of my bags and I’ll grab some of yours and then we’ll go and have a proper tea party.” 

“Can I bring Molly?” Yuri asked, sounding almost a little shy as she was very much aware that bringing a doll to a tea party could still be perceived as highly childish by the older girl. 

Taeyon just chuckled, “Of course. I brought Anna-Marie with me so we can have a full reunion.” 

For a second Yuri paused, “Oh, but what about the other girls?” 

“I’m sure we’ll be able to find dolls for them, come on, the quicker we’re in the quicker we can get everything sorted out,” Taeyon had also never questioned her friend’s ability to read situations far quicker than anyone should have been able to do normally, she just accepted it as being part of Yuri’s uniqueness and never questioned it. 

It wasn’t long before the passageways and landings of the Manor were bustling with activity and with everyone moving back and forth, greeting old friends, politely avoiding any conflicts from old rivals or else trying to chase after wayward cubs or kindree it was no surprise that pretty soon everyone was mixed in together and clearly enjoying themselves.   
Standing on the side-lines of all the hectic madness were two boys who remained very quiet and still, merely waiting to be told where they needed to go. Their names were Yixing and Sehun and neither one of them belonged to a clan but they had been found on the road and brought along in the hopes that they could be identified and returned home. Yixing was taller than most of the kindree and held a sense of age about him, though he had yet to reveal his age when asked. He spoke politely and consistently, never questioning or rude and only enough to convey the message that he wanted across. Sehun, was far younger but not related to Yixing if their unmatched hair colouring did not give that away to begin with, as Sehun had thick black hair which almost had white tips naturally occurring and Yixing was a dark honey blond with a tan to his skin to match it. The younger did not speak a word, whether through a lasting trauma or an unfortunate natural occurrence it was hard to know but he followed Yixing around like a lost little puppy and seemed to be wary of others. 

So it was no surprise that when Leeteuk approached them, Sehun moved to hide behind Yixing and refused to even consider looking at the older woman despite the fact that she smelt like flowers and pancakes. Leeteuk however had been forewarned, “Would you like to go to your room?” 

Yixing blinked and looked at the woman in surprise, “A room?” 

“Yes, we have plenty to spare so you only need to share with your timid little friend,” Leeteuk replied, her tone soft and gentle in such a way that for a moment Yixing felt as though he could just throw himself forward and hug this werewolf and nothing bad would ever come to haunt him again. However, he resisted with all of his heart because he did not want to be tricked again. 

Slowly he nodded, “That sounds fine to me.” 

Leeteuk smiled gently in return and offered a nod in reply before raising to her feet and setting off the room which had been allocated to the two boys. Already her heart felt heavy because she could see the pain and misery that they had gone through and she wanted nothing more than to just hold the pair. To be the mother that had gone from their lives but that was currently not her place in the slightest. One day it may be, but there were many barriers to climb before that could happen. 

However, the alpha female was quick to step in front of Yixing and the still hiding Sehun as a young werewolf practically marched passed dragging a figure behind him with a look that could have curdled milk if it wanted to. Jongdae was not in the mood for any of this babysitting malarkey and there was no way that he was even going to bother with Suho for a moment longer than he needed to before he could go and rough up some of the other wolves to make sure that they knew he was the boss of this place. His clan mate was dragged along a few corridors and then rudely pushed into a pretty plain looking room where a small selection of pretty carry cases were placed, “There, now I’ve escorted you I don’t want to see your ugly face no more.” 

Jongdae practically towered over the quivering figure on the floor, using his height and width to be as intimidating as possible and scowling in disgust towards the underling. He was stocky and had a mop of ginger hair that was practically untameable at the best of times and already he had marks and scars from the numerous fights that he had gotten himself into even for his young age. 

“But…” a tiny, soft and almost musical voice spoke as the figure turned to look up towards the boy, pale blue eyes wide with fear and uncertainty, “What about…?”   
“That thing can go and die for all I care,” Jongdae said, turning his back on the innocent looking boy because his unnatural beauty and feminine features did something to his insides that made him want to throw up, “Stay away from me Suho. Get the message?” 

The boy on the floor nodded sadly and lowered his head, knowing that the wolf would go storming out no matter what he said anyways and as soon as the stomping feet had disappeared, the very slim boy pulled his legs into his chest and hid his face in them so that he would not be heard crying as that would only lead to more troubles. He wasn’t supposed to cry; he was supposed to be a big strong boy but Suho just couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. However not moments later he felt the smooth, perfect and tiny hands land on his arm and the blue eyes rose to meet the adorable smiling face of his living doll, Yoonah-chan. 

How he had accidentally caused the little human to become his doll, Suho could never explain but at times like this he was more than grateful to have her. Softly he smiled and shifted to pull the small toddler to his arms, noting that she automatically curled up against him with a happy hum and thankfully her black plats had not come out and she still wore her cute little blue and white fluffy dress. “I’m good, Yoonah, we’re going to be just fine you and me.” 

Gently he increased his hold on the girl and rocked her back and forth in the hopes to help her drift off to sleep as he was pretty sure that she had not had some in a little while and the calming sensation of her breath on his neck drove away the fears which plagued at him. For a time, he could be free of Jongdae and his boisterous ways and that was the best he could hope for now. 

Jongdae however had found himself in the odd position of being the lesser of two individuals as when he had come storming around the corner to make his presence known and to put these mewling wolf pups in their proper place as he was the one who would command over them whilst they were in the house, the boy had bumped into a figure who had not moved. 

It was another boy, younger than him with a strange scent that immediately brought his hackles up and made him want to get rid of this intruder. “Get out of my way,” Jongdae had stated in his most grown up and demanding voice towards the boy, fully expecting him to back off and mewl like all the rest. 

Kris however just stared at the newcomer before shaking his head, “No.” 

“What?” Jongdae snarled towards him. 

“It’s feeding time for the cubs and you shouldn’t be here,” Kris replied, his tone even and well balanced, “You should be helping the rest of the clans move in.”   
Jongdae bristled, “Who are you who think you can give me orders, runt?” 

“I am Kris,” the boy stated, his tone taking on a slightly stronger tone now, “and I am son of the Alpha of this pack. I’m asking you nicely to go away and stop frightening the cubs.” 

“Before I get a chance to put you firmly back in your place, boy,” Kangin’s deep voice resounded from behind and Jongdae looked up with a mixture of fright and annoyance before huffing and storming off with a fierce glare in his eyes towards Kris. 

Kris however just blinked and looked up to his father, “What was he all about?” 

“He was trying to assert his dominance over the pack,” Kangin said with a shake of his head though he reached across to ruffle Kris’s hair, “But you did a good job in neutralising him.” 

Before Kris could answer there came the sound of running feet and Luhan appeared with Kyungsoo and two other Kindree whom Kris had not met. However, the boy with brown hair took one look at Kris and laughed, “So that’s why you didn’t reply to my letters! You got a puppy.” 

About to speak again, Kris was once again stopped from doing do but this time by a weight landing on his back as he was tackle hugged and sent cascading down to the floor. “Yay! I found you!” a girlish voice cried in high excitement, “My mate!”


End file.
